Systems and methods to provide communication connections

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatuses to provide communication connections for partners based on communication references assigned to entities maintained by the partners. In one embodiment, a method includes: receiving from a partner contact information of an entity; providing the partner with a real-time communication reference usable to at least initiate a request for a communication connection; and in response to receiving a request initiated via the real-time communication reference, providing a real-time communication connection between a requester and the entity using the contact information received from the partner.

The present patent application is a continuation application of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/668,881, filed Jan. 30, 2007, entitled“Systems and Methods to Provide Communication Connections,” now U.S.Pat. No. 8,437,256, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/764,719, filed Feb. 1, 2006 and entitled“Systems and Methods to Provide Communication Connection,” the entiredisclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

The present patent application is related to U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/329,459, filed Jan. 10, 2006 and entitled “Systems andMethods to Provide Availability Indication,” now U.S. Pat. No.8,125,931, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/799,610,filed May 10, 2006 and entitled “Systems and Method to Convert a FreeCall to a Fee-Based Call”. The disclosures of the related applicationsare hereby incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNOLOGY FIELD

At least some embodiments of the present invention relate to userinterface techniques to assist people to connect for real-timecommunication, such as connecting people for telephonic conversation,chat, document sharing, screen-sharing, etc.

BACKGROUND

Internet, cellular communication systems, television, newspaper, etc.,provide diverse communication media channels through which people mayreceive information and/or communicate with each other.

People may use a web site to chronologically publish personal thoughtsand web links Such a web site may be referred to as a blog. A blog mayinclude content showing what is happening in the life of the person,collecting information on certain types of subjects of interest to theperson, providing links to related web sites, etc. Thus, a personal website may include a collection of contents that may be helpful to peopleof similar interest.

Telephone systems allow users to conduct real time two-way voicecommunication. Traditional land-line based telephone systems connect onetelephone set to another through one or more switching centers, operatedby one or more telephone companies, over a land-line based telephonenetwork. Traditionally, a telephone connection is based on a circuitswitched network.

Current telephone systems may also use a packet-switched network for atelephone connection. A packet switched network is typical in a computerdata environment. Recent developments in the field of Voice over IP(VoIP) allow the delivery of voice information using the InternetProtocol, in which voice information is packaged in a digital form indiscrete packets rather than in the traditional circuit-committedprotocols of the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

Cellular networks allow a cellular phone to connect to a nearby cellularbase station through an air interface for wireless access to a telephonenetwork. Recent developments in wireless telephone systems allow notonly voice communications but also data communications. For example,cellular phones can now receive and send short messages through a ShortMessage Service (SMS). Web pages can now be retrieved through wirelesscellular links and displayed on cellular phones. Wireless ApplicationProtocol (WAP) has been developed to overcome the constraints ofrelatively slow and intermittent nature of wireless links to accessinformation similar or identical to World Wide Web.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which likereferences indicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a user interface to create a listing according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a user interface to start a communication accordingto one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a user interface to display the status of acommunication connection process and to provide the user guidancethrough the process according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 5-12 show examples of flow diagrams of a process to connect a userand an adviser for communication according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates a method to display a call button according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 illustrates a method to monitor and control a connectionaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 shows a diagram of a system to assist and track connectionsaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 illustrates a system to provide communication connectionsaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 17-18 illustrate a media database and a connection database whichcan be used in a system to provide communication connections accordingto one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 19-20 show flow diagrams of methods to provide communicationconnections according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 21 shows a block diagram example of a data processing system whichmay be used with the present invention.

FIG. 22 shows a system including a connection server configured on apacket switched network according to one embodiment.

FIG. 23 shows a connection server according to one embodiment.

SUMMARY

Methods and apparatuses to provide communication connections forpartners based on communication references assigned to entitiesmaintained by the partners are described herein. In one embodiment, amethod includes: receiving from a partner contact information of anentity; providing the partner with a real-time communication referenceusable to at least initiate a request for a communication connection;and in response to receiving a request initiated via the real-timecommunication reference, providing a real-time communication connectionbetween a requester and the entity using the contact informationreceived from the partner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and drawings are illustrative of the inventionand are not to be construed as limiting the invention. Numerous specificdetails are described to provide a thorough understanding of the presentinvention. However, in certain instances, well known or conventionaldetails are not described in order to avoid obscuring the description.References to one or an embodiment in the present disclosure can be, butnot necessarily are, references to the same embodiment; and, suchreferences mean at least one.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a system is to provideservices to people who wish to make connections for real timecommunication, such as live telephone conversation, chat, videoconferencing, instant messaging, and other forms of real timecommunications.

For example, benefits of the services may include anonymity for one ormore of the parties of the real time communication. For example, theservice can connect the caller and callee without revealing the contactinformation of one party to another, such as the actual telephonenumber. The services may include filtering callers/participants so thatonly those who are willing to pay can get connected. The services mayinclude collecting payments for the callee so that the callee can earnmoney from talking to the callers over the phone without the burden ofmanaging payment collection, etc. The services may include scheduling sothat the real time communication are initiated at a convenient time(e.g., no night calls). The services may include queue managing to serveboth the callees and the callers. The services may include providing thecool, convenient click-to-call functionality to attract callers for thecallees.

In one embodiment, the services may include providing a persistent andconsistent way to reach people. For example, a web link, or a toll-freenumber, or a local phone number can be provided by the system so thatthe callers can reach the callee using the web link, or the toll-freenumber, or the local phone number even after the telephone of the calleehas been changed. The callee can publish the web link and/or the phonenumber, knowing that the calls will follow if the callee updates thetelephone number in the system. The callees do not need to reveal theiractual telephone numbers to the potential callers. If desired, thecallee can keep the caller from knowing the actual telephone number ofthe callee for anonymity.

In general, the service may provide any combination of the benefitsdiscussed above.

Many examples are presented in the context of telephone connection forreal time conversation. Embodiments of the present invention can also beapplied to other real time communication systems (e.g., text chat,instant messaging, voice/video conferencing, etc.) in a way similar tothe telephone conversation.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system according to one embodiment of the presentinvention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, callees who have customers, fans,far-away clients, etc., can make money talking with them on the phone.The system provides the callees with services of managing thetransactions such that the callees can sell what they have to say withreduced/minimum efforts on business aspects. For example, a blogger canearn money from the blog by talking to the interested readers of theblog.

In one embodiment, the callee can sign up for a call button of thesystem and/or for a phone number provided by the system. The call buttonand/or the assigned phone number can be used as the contact informationof the callee. For example, the callee can publish the call buttonand/or the phone number in a variety of media channels and environments,such as in the blog, in advertisements, in news articles, in columndiscussions, in business cards, etc.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the callees manage their owndistribution of the call button and/or the phone number, since thecallees may have their unique ways to reach potential callers (e.g.,through blogs, home pages, business cards, etc.). The callees can bringthe call button and/or the phone number into the context where thecustomers of the callees are, such as their own web pages or blogs orbusiness cards (e.g., via a phone number).

Alternatively, or in combination, the system may also help the calleesto reach callers through presenting the call buttons and/or the phonenumbers in marketplaces, such as online listings of services,advertisements embedded in the search results generated by a searchengine, classified advertisements, etc.

After signing up for the call button and/or the phone number, thecallees can set up their own prices and their own hours for receivingthe calls. When the call button and/or the phone number leads thecallers to callees, the callees can earn money by talking to the callerswithout having to manage scheduling, queue, payment collection, privacy,etc. For example, the callees can enjoy the benefit of anonymityprovided by the system, since the callees do not have to reveal theiractual phone numbers to the potential callers in order to receive calls.The system provides the filtering functionality so that some callers canreach the callees.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the services of the systemare packaged and delivered through the use of a call button and/or acommunication reference (such as a phone number) assigned to the callee.The callees do not have to rely upon a marketplace, such as keen.com, tohave callers reach them.

FIG. 2 illustrates a user interface to create a listing according to oneembodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the callee can specifythe rate the callee will charge the callers when the callers want totalk to the callee.

In one embodiment, the callee may specify the price (rate) in terms of apackage, such as $100 for one hour. A call package has a specified pricefor a given time limit that is longer than one minute (e.g., one hour).Alternatively, the callee may specify the price in terms of a price perunit of time, such as $2 per minute, without specifying a time limit.

In one embodiment, when the rate is specified as a package that includesa time limit (e.g., 60 minutes, two hours, etc.), the callee can furtherspecify the policy for the continuation of the call beyond the timelimit (e.g., $50 per 30 minutes thereafter, or end call, or no longercharge).

In one embodiment, the callee can specify that they'd like to offer thecaller free talk time before the paid portion of the call begins. Thisfree talk time can be used to determine whether the callee's skills canindeed meet the caller's needs and whether there is enough trust towarrant a paid transaction. The callee can specify whether the callercan talk for 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 free minutes, or even a limitless numberof free minutes until a paid transaction is signaled. A paidtransactions could be signaled by the seller or buyer pressing the # keyon their telephone keypad, for instance. In this example, a caller couldcall through to a callee's phone just like a normal telephone call,until the # key is pressed, when the caller is directed to a liveoperator or IVR flow in which his payment details are collected and thecaller is automatically billed for the subsequent time he spends talkingto the callee on the phone.

In the user interface illustrated in FIG. 2, the callee can specify thephone number (e.g., 415-861-6100) at which the system will call thecallee when a customer wishes to speak to the callee. The phone numberis used by the system to call the callee and make a connection to thecustomer. The phone number of the callee is not provided to callers(customers of the callee) for anonymity.

In one embodiment, the callee may specify a listing name (e.g., for thislisting). The callee may create multiple listings with different rates,phone numbers, etc., in the same account. Optionally, the callee providemay further description and a photo (e.g., a photo of the callee) forthe listing.

In one embodiment, the photo of the listing should be no larger than 70pixel wide by 70 pixel high and should be in either GIF or JPEG format.Alternatively, the system may automatically convert the image uploadedfrom the callee into the appropriate size and format. However, it isunderstood that other sizes can also be used.

After the listing is created, the callee can select the button“Continue” to access the next screen for getting the call button.

In one embodiment, the web server of the system provides the calleewith: a call button and/or a phone number, such as 1-800-GO-ETHERextension XXXX, after the callee finishes creating the listing. The callbutton and the phone number assigned to the callee are intended for thecallee to place wherever a caller (buyer) will come across them. Thephone number can also be a toll-free number without an extension or evena local number.

In one embodiment, the callee, or seller, uses the given phone number toinitiate calls back to the caller, or caller. In this case, the calleebecomes the caller and the caller becomes the callee. For instance, aseller could receive a voicemail from a buyer who would like someinformation and has left his phone number to be called. The seller couldreach this buyer by first dialing his Ether number and into his Etheraccount, then bridging the call to the buyer by dialing his phone numberinto the IVR. When the buyer answers, the call is initially free, untilthe # key is pressed, which triggers the billing module collecting fundsfrom the buyer and paying the seller. Alternatively, the buyer canprovide his phone number to the connection provider, instead of to theseller in the voicemail. In response to the voicemail, the seller canask the connection provider to bridge the call from the seller to thebuyer. In one embodiment, the voicemail is maintained in the system ofthe connection provider in association with the phone number of thebuyer. After a period of time, the buyer may optionally ask theconnection provider to cancel the voicemail, or block the seller fromcalling back to the buyer. Alternatively, the voicemail can be left onthe answer machine of the seller, or a voicemail service of the sellerthat is not under the control of the connection provider. The seller canidentify the buyer by specifying the date and time of the voicemail, ora reference added by the connection provider to the voicemail.

For example, a golf pro provides great swing tips. The golf pro as acallee (seller) can put a call button on a blog, on a web page, in thefooter of an email, etc. When people are reading the blog about golfequipment, they might think “I'm really interested in what this personhas to say, I think I'll pay to talk to them live and ask them all myquestions.”

In one embodiment, the call button includes HTML (Hypertext MarkupLanguage) code which contains a reference to the listing and one or morelinks to a server of the system. The HTML code can be inserted into theblog and/or the home page of the callee, or an email. When the HTML codeis rendered in the browser of the caller (e.g., when the caller visitsthe blog or the home page of the callee, or when the caller views anemail from the callee), the browser shows a call button which can beselected (e.g., through “clicking” on the call button using a cursorcontrolling device, such as a mouse, a track ball, a joystick, a touchscreen, etc.) to request a phone connection. An example of theappearance of a call button includes an icon showing a telephone set andthe text “call now”, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

In one embodiment, when the call button is rendered, the appearance ofthe call button may include an icon, which when selected or activatedcan initiated a request for a real time communication connection.

Alternatively, the call button can be specified in documents in a formatother than HTML, such as in an extensible markup language (XML).

In one embodiment, the call button can change its state depending on thestate of the caller and/or callee. For instance, if the callee isalready on a phone call with a caller, the button would indicate “busy,”so that a second caller would see that the callee is already on atelephone. Clicking on the button in this instance would give the secondcaller the ability to get in line to talk to the callee. Or, in anotherembodiment, the second caller clicking on the button could give him theability to join the call in progress.

In one embodiment, the call button can change its state depending onwhat the callee explicitly indicates. The callee could, for instance,tell the system, via a web form or telephone IVR, that he is currently“taking calls” or “not taking calls” or “offering video” or “offeringchat” or “taking appointments” or taking “arranged calls” or“callbacks.” He could indicate that he is taking calls and is “by myphone,” indicating a heightened presence. Depending upon each of suchstates, the system would lead callers down different communicationpaths. If a callee is “by my [his/her] phone,” the system might call thecaller first, since it's highly probably that the callee will beavailable for his/her side of the connection. If the callee is simply“taking calls,” the system might call the callee first, since he/shemight be the more unlikely party to be available. Other communicationpaths include getting in line, joining a conference call, turning on avideo connection, scheduling an appointment, entering into a chatsession, etc.

Similarly, the golf pro can use the phone number for various offlinemedia and other media. For example, if the golf pro writes a column forGolf Digest magazine, he can put the phone number that is assigned tohim (e.g., Ether phone number) at the end of the column, such as1-800-GO-ETHER, extension XXXX. The system can even provide him with acustom 800 number, such as 1-800-GOLF-PRO, rather than the extension toa generic 1-800-GO-ETHER number. For example, the column may include thefollowing message: “Call me to talk about your own golf swing. Dial1-800-GOLF-PRO. $100/hour.” Alternatively, the Ether phone number can bea phone number local to a specific region of interest to the golf pro(e.g., having the same area code, or the same area code and exchange, asthose in the target geographical area).

In one embodiment, the callee may request a phone number, such as“1-800-GO-ETHER” extension “YOU”, which is specifically assigned to thecallee (and/or the listing). The callee can publish the assigned phonenumber in the blog, home page, printed publications, brochure, orbusiness card. The phone number may be given out during a TV or radiotalk show, etc. When the assigned phone number is called, the call isfirst connected to a server of the system. The system can then call thecallee and join the caller and the callee for real time communication.

FIG. 3 illustrates a user interface to start a communication accordingto one embodiment of the present invention. For example, after a callerselects a call button, the user interface as illustrated in FIG. 3 isdisplayed (e.g., in the browser of the caller, or in a pop-up window).

In the example of FIG. 3, a call graphic is displayed to show theprogress of making the connection. In FIG. 3, the photo of the callee(e.g., the photo uploaded by the callee to the server for the listingduring the creation of the listing) is displayed with a link “More aboutme”, which when selected causes the browser to display the descriptionof the listing corresponding to the call button.

In one embodiment, when the photo of the listing is not available, thesystem may present a standard icon to represent the callee.

In FIG. 3, an icon and the description “Your Telephone” are displayed topresent the caller. An “ether” icon between the caller and calleerepresents the system. The link “How this works” under the “ether” iconcan be selected to see the details of the call process, which can behelpful to a user who is not familiar with the system.

The user interface presents an entry to receive a time window (e.g., 4hours) within which the caller is available to take a call back from thesystem to talk to the callee. The user interface also includes an entryto receive the phone number of the caller such that the system can callback the caller to make the connection between the caller and the calleein this time window.

In one embodiment, the user interface can be part of the VoIP clientapplication (e.g., the user interface of a VoIP terminal, such as theuser interface of a VoIP-enable phone, or an application window of aVoIP application running on a computer or a Personal Digital Assistant(PDA)). The VoIP phone connection can be established, whether the userinputs the callback phone number or if the VoIP connection simplyconnects the two parties without the need of a phone number.

In FIG. 3, the user interface includes a button “call now” which whenselected causes the user interface to send the time window and thecallback phone number to a server to request for a phone connection.

In one embodiment, the user interface is part of the VoIP clientapplication which can send the telephonic contact information (e.g., thephone number of the VoIP client application or a user ID of the VoIPsystem) to the server without the user explicitly specifying the callback number.

FIG. 4 illustrates a user interface to display the status of acommunication connection process and to provide the user guidancethrough the process according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

In FIG. 4, the call graphic shows that the phone of the callee is offthe hook, indicating that the callee has accepted the call. The callgraphic shows the icon “Press 1” to instruct the caller to press “1” onthe phone to be connected to the callee.

The user interface further provides text explaining the status andinstruction to the caller.

In one embodiment, before the callee accepts the call, the system callsthe callee, during which the call graphic shows that the phone of thecallee is ringing and the phone of the caller is on the hook, not yetanswered by the callee. The text is provided in the user interface toexplain the current status of the connection process and to instruct theuser to wait while the system is contacting the callee.

Thus, in one embodiment, the system provides the user-friendly,step-by-step feedback and instruction to the caller to guide the callerthrough the connection process.

In one embodiment, after the connection between the caller and callee isestablished, the system further provides feedback and instructions onthe call graphic. For example, during the call the system can providethe accumulated call time for the purchased call. If the purchased callhas a time limit, the call graphic can further show the remainingminutes of the call. When the time limit is approaching (or reached),the call graphic can provide the guidance and instructions for“recharge” (e.g., by purchasing a further package, or switching to a perminute mode with a further time limit, etc.). In one embodiment, theoptions to continue the call when the time limit is approaching (orreached) is displayed in the graphical user interface so that the callermay select an option in the graphical user interface withoutinterrupting the conversation with the callee.

In one embodiment, if a purchased call with a time limit isinterrupted/dropped before the time limit is reached, the caller cancontinue the call by requesting a re-connection with a time window. Tohelp the caller, the call graphic can present the guidance andinstructions for continue the call and present the status of thecontinuation of the call. For example, the call graphic may present adescription of the continuation policy for interrupted/dropped call andshow the remaining portion of the time window to resume the call.

One example scenario of using a call button that is placed in the blog,home page, or email of the callee (seller) is described below.

When the callee (seller) is taking calls, the call button of the callee(seller) says “Call Me.”

When the caller (buyer) clicks on the button, the caller (buyer) is ledto a landing page that explains how the service works and indicates theprice, which might be $100 to talk on the phone for 60 minutes and $1per minute thereafter.

When the caller (buyer) clicks the “Continue” button on the landingpage, the caller (buyer) is brought to a page to specify payment options(e.g., credit card information). Or, if the caller (buyer) is areturning member, the caller (buyer) can sign in (e.g., throughproviding the correct member name and password) to instruct the systemto use the billing information (e.g., credit card and billing address)that is already on file (e.g., that has been previously submitted to thesystem and that is stored in the database of the system in associationwith account of the caller). If the caller (buyer) is not a member, thecaller (buyer) is presented with a page to register with the system andbecome a member. Alternatively, the caller (buyer) may specify thepayment information without becoming a member.

For example, the page may identify the caller (buyer) as a memberaccording to the information provided by a cookie maintained by the webbrowser of the caller (buyer). If the cookie exists, the cookie includesthe member name of the caller (buyer). If the cookie indicates that thecaller (buyer) has already signed in, the server may skip the sign-inprocess; otherwise, the caller (buyer) is prompt to sign in. If thecaller (buyer) is new to the network, the caller (buyer) is asked toregister and become a member.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the call button/link doesnot bring the caller (buyer) inside the marketplace (e.g., a listshowing competitors). Instead, the actions related to the call buttonhappen in the environment of the callee (seller). For example, the webpage(s) can be just a pop-up window so that the caller does not have toleave the web page (e.g., blog or home page) of the callee (seller). Thelanding page may be within a frame of the blog/home page of the callee,or within an applet embedded in the blog/home page of the callee.

Alternatively, the call button may bring the caller (buyer) to a VoIPapplication and provide the guidance and instruction to the caller onthe user interface of the VoIP application.

In one embodiment, the VoIP application has browser functionality andshows the call button with the blog, web page or email in the userinterface of the VoIP application.

Alternatively, the call button may bring the caller (buyer) to themarketplace which shows the offers of the competitors of the callee(seller).

In one embodiment, after confirming the payment information, the caller(buyer) is led to a page to specify the phone number that the caller(buyer) would like to be called back at and the time window within whichthe caller (buyer) is willing to receive the call back to talk to thecallee (seller). The time window might be “four hours.” FIG. 3 shows anexample of such a page.

When the caller (buyer) continues (e.g., pressing the button “Call Now”in FIG. 3), the system obtains the authorization to charge an amount,when the call is connected (e.g., $100 from the buyer's credit card, ifthe credit card is the method of payment).

In one embodiment, a call for a package of bulk minutes (e.g., that hasa specified time limit) is charged when the two parties are connected,regardless of whether the duration of the time limit is reached. In oneembodiment, to avoid the difficulty in charging the buyer (e.g., $100)to talk to a seller but the seller fails to call back within the timewindow requested by the buyer, the system does not charge the buyeruntil after a connection between the caller (buyer) and the callee(seller) is successfully established (e.g., for a minimum period oftime, or after the phone call is completed, or after the time limit isreached, etc.).

In one embodiment, the system “pre-authorizes” the charge (e.g., $100)on the buyer's credit card to make sure that, should the connection becompleted, the buyer would be able to pay. In one embodiment, the systemindicates the status of pre-authorization, charging/not-charging to thebuyer in the user interface that guides the user through the process ofmaking the connection.

Alternatively, the system may make the charge (e.g., $100) on thebuyer's credit card when starting to make the connection and make arefund to the buyer if the connection is not successful within the callback time window specified by the caller (buyer). Alternatively, thesystem may charge a portion of the fee (e.g., $100) during the phoneconnection set up period, and refund the charge if the connection is notsuccessful or charge the remaining portion after the connection is madesuccessfully (e.g., after the phone call is completed).

In one embodiment, the system determines whether or not to pre-chargethe buyer based on statistical data, such as the credit history of thecaller (buyer), the success rate of the callee (seller) to call backwithin the time window specified by the caller (buyer), etc. Thus, forexample, if the system determines that the call is likely to beestablished within the time window, the system may pre-charge thecaller; for example, if the system determines that the caller (buyer)has a good credit history, the system may defer the charge to a laterstage (e.g., after the completion of the call).

In one embodiment, after the system determines that the caller (buyer)has a sufficient source to pay for the call, the system calls the callee(seller) and says: “We have a caller who is calling you on your callbutton. He is paying your $100 fee and is willing to wait up to 4 hoursto talk to you. Please press 1 on your telephone keypad if you want totake the call now; press 2 if you can't take it now but can indeed takeit within the next 4 hours that has been requested, or press 3 if youwon't be able to take it within 4 hours.” Note that different system mayassociate different sets of key pressing events (e.g., press 1, press 2,press 3, . . . ) with different options.

In one embodiment, the system can optionally provide the callee (seller)with more information about the caller (buyer) based on pre-recordedinformation. For example, the system can record the self introduction ofthe caller (buyer) (e.g., the name of the caller, for instance ‘Bob’) sothat the system tells the callee “We have ‘Bob’ . . . ” instead of “Wehave a caller . . . ”, where ‘Bob’ is the recording of theself-introduction of the callee (buyer).

In one embodiment, the system has the name of caller (buyer) recorded aspart of the member preference/attribute of the caller (buyer).Alternatively, the system can use a text-to-speech program to “read out”the name of the buyer when introducing the call to the callee (seller).Alternatively, the system can record the name of the caller (buyer) whenthe system receives a call from the caller at the phone number assignedto the callee, or callback the caller first to obtain the recording.

In one embodiment, if the callee (seller) presses 1, the system tellsthe callee (seller) to hold on while the system calls the caller(buyer). The screen of the caller (buyer) is updated automatically toindicate that the callee (seller) is ready and the caller (buyer) isbeing called back for the connection between the caller (buyer) and thecallee (seller).

If the callee (seller) presses 2, the system tells the caller (buyer)(e.g., on the screen of the caller) that the callee (seller) can't takethe call now but expect to take the call within an identified period oftime (e.g., the next 4 hours). The system will arrange to make the phoneconnection within the identified period of time (e.g., the next 4hours).

In one embodiment, the system may use alternative numbers to indicate aresponse of the callee.

For example, the system may send a message (e.g., through email, aweb-based user interface for the callee (seller), a voice mail, aninstant message, etc) to the callee about the call and the identifiedperiod of time (e.g., 4-hour time window) so that the callee (seller)may indicate to the system within the identified period of time (e.g.,next 4 hours) that the callee (seller) is ready for the call.

Alternatively, the system may try to call the callee (seller)periodically or according to a time period specified by the callee(seller). For example, the callee may press 15 after pressing 2 toindicate that system should try to make the connection after 15 minutes.Alternatively, the callee may provide such an indication throughreplying to the email, instant message, short text message, or through anetwork-based user interface (e.g., web-based) that is designed tomanage the user account. For example, the network-based user interfacemay present a list of calls in the queue and the corresponding timewindows. When ready to take the next phone call, the callee can indicateto the system that the callee is currently available to take a call (ora particular one of the calls in the list).

Alternatively, the caller (buyer) may try to call the callee (seller)again within the time window (e.g., next 4 hours).

In one embodiment, the system may monitor the activities related to thiscall to avoid duplicated efforts in making the connection within thetime window (e.g., next 4 hours) so that the caller and callee are notinterrupted by unnecessary attempts to make the connection.

If the callee (seller) presses 3, the system tells the caller (buyer)that the callee (seller) can't take the call within the requested timewindow. The caller (buyer) in this case is not charged the price (e.g.,$100). In one embodiment, the caller (buyer) is charged the price (e.g.,$100) only when the call between the caller (buyer) and callee (seller)is actually connected.

When the system makes the connection between the caller (buyer) andcallee (seller), the system may call the caller (buyer) first or callthe callee (seller) first, or call both at about the same time. Forexample, the system may determine which one of the caller and callee ismore reliable and call the reliable one of the two first. The system maydetermine which of the parties is more reliable based on statistic datacollected from past call connection activities. Alternatively, thesystem may connect to the less reliable party first. Alternatively, thecallee (seller) may specify the preference of who is to be called firstas part of the specification of the listing.

When the caller (buyer) calls the phone number assigned to the callee(assignee) (e.g., 800-GO-ETHER extension 4567), the system may firstauthenticate the caller and/or arrange the payment options and thenprompt the caller to enter the time window and the call back phonenumber using the key pad of the phone. An interactive voice response(IVR) system can be used to interact with the caller so that the callerdoes not need web access to be connect to the callee (seller).

Alternatively, the system may determine automatically the telephonecontact information of the caller from the call received from the caller(buyer) (e.g., through call ID service or an Automatic NumberIdentification (ANI) service) and use the telephone contact informationin calling back. The system may present an option for the caller (buyer)to confirm the automatically detected telephone contact information ofthe caller for calling back so that the caller has an opportunity tospecify different telephone contact information for the call back.

In one embodiment, when the system determines that the caller has agraphical user interface (e.g., web access) while requesting theconnection for the call (e.g., when the caller pushes a button on a webinterface to request the call, or when the caller is signed into thesystem or when the online presence of the caller is detected, or whenthe call is initiated from a VoIP terminal that has a graphicscapability), the system uses the graphical user interface to assist thecaller. When the system fails to detect the online presence of thecaller, the system uses the IVR system to provide the caller (buyer)with guidance. Thus, the system automatically switches between using theweb interface to guide the caller or using the IRV interface to guidethe caller.

In one embodiment, the system may further use other communicationsystems to guide the callee (e.g., according to the presence andavailability of such communication systems). For example, the interfacemay be Wireless Application Protocol based (WAP-based) applications, orbased on instant messaging, or based on a custom designed client-serverapplication/protocol. Thus, a web-based interface is presented as anexample. User interfaces based on other communication protocols and/orother types of communication systems can also be used.

In one embodiment, the system may ask the caller (buyer) to hang uptemporarily until the callee accepts the call. Alternatively, the systemmay allow the caller (buyer) to stay on the line while the systemattempt to reach the callee (seller).

In one embodiment, the system allows the callee (seller) to specify oneor more alternative phone numbers in case the callee (seller) is notreachable at the primary phone number specified for the listing.Similarly, the caller (buyer) may also specify one or more alternativecall back phone numbers. In one embodiment, the system allows theparties to specify other telephonic references (e.g., user names ofinternet telephonic application) to make the telephone connection. Inone embodiment, the system may further allow the user to specify otheridentities to make connections for other types of real timecommunications, such as chat, instant messaging, video conferencing,etc. In this application, instead of calls over phones connected to aPSTN or via VOIP connections, the communication connections can be inthe form of typewritten/text chat, video, screen sharing, commonwhiteboarding, application sharing, or other types of communications.

In one embodiment, the system arranges the call according to aspects ofthe methods described in the U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2004/0252820 (application Ser. No. 10/360,776, filed on Jun. 12, 2003),which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

When the caller (buyer) requests the connection using the call button,the web server provides the instructions and feedback to guide thecaller (buyer) through the call process.

When the caller (buyer) dials the callee's listing via the Ether phonenumber (e.g., the 800 number assigned to the callee), an interactivevoice response (IVR) system is used to provide similar instructions andfeedback to guide the caller (buyer) through the call process.

For example, the caller (buyer) registers and creates an identity usingthe phone number and a PIN. A credit card is asked for via IVR or liveoperator to set up payment options. Then the call window is entered onthe keypad of the phone, such as pressing the string of keys “4*” toindicate a “4” hours window or “60#” for a “60” minutes window.

In one embodiment, when the callee is having a telephonic connectionwith the system, the system prompts the caller (buyer) to utter amessage for the callee (seller). For example, the caller (buyer) may say“I'm Bob Stanley-remember we met at the golf conference last weekend.”The system records the messages of the caller (buyer). When the callee(seller) gets the call, the system says, “There's a buyer on the linewho's paid $100 and is willing to wait 4 hours and here's how heidentifies himself: ‘I'm Bob Stanley—remember we met at the golfconference last weekend.’” The system in such a way provides as muchidentifying information to the callee (seller) as possible so that thecallee (seller) may screen the callers for acceptance. In oneembodiment, the system behaves as an automatic secretary, screeningwho's on the line for the callee (seller).

In one embodiment, the system provides functionality for bulk-minutepricing.

For example, once a call starts, the system metes out the time that hasbeen bought. When the time limit, for example, 60 minutes, is up, thesystem tells both parties on the phone that the time is up. The systemthen prompts the buyer to add more money to buy a second package, or goto per minute pricing, or end the call, or let them talk further forfree, according to the continuation policy of the call which isspecified by the callee (seller) in the listing (e.g., specified duringthe creation of the listing).

In one embodiment, if the parties hang up after just, for example, 35,minutes of a 60-minute call, the system has a time window in which itexpires the remaining minutes. The time window can be set quite large,such as a year, so that someone can buy a 1,000-minute discount packageand talk 100 times over the course of the year. Or the time window canbe set small, such as 30 minutes, in which case the caller (buyers) cancall again within the 30-minute window after the 35-minute call to keeptalking based on the already purchased 60-minute package, but the caller(buyers) can be connected on the basis of the unused portion of the60-minute call package after a break that is longer than the timewindow.

In one embodiment, the system time window specifies the longest periodof break before the unused portion of the purchased package expires.

In one embodiment, the system time window specifies the period from thestarting of the conversation and the time when the purchased packageexpires. For example, the system may specify a window of 4 hours or soby default, so that people who get cut off or interrupted can finishtheir calls in this window of time.

In one embodiment, the system time window is based on the size of thepurchased package. The larger the time limit of the package, the largeris the time window. In one embodiment, the expiration of the package isbased on a limit on the separate calls (e.g., three). In one embodiment,the expiration of the package is based on the expiration time window andthe limit on separate calls, whichever is reached first.

In one embodiment, the system allows the callee (seller) to specify theexpiration time window in the specification of the listing (e.g., aspart of the continuation policy of the call package) and/or the limit onthe separate calls.

FIGS. 5-12 show examples of flow diagrams of a process to connect a userand an adviser for telephonic conversation according to one embodimentof the present invention.

In one embodiment, when a caller selects (e.g., clicks) on a call buttonaccording to one embodiment of the present invention, the selection(e.g., click) leads down several different paths depending on theavailability status of the seller.

For example, in FIG. 5, the system determines (201) the current statusof the adviser at the time the telephonic connection is started. In oneembodiment, the current status of the adviser is determined based atleast partially on the information provided by the adviser. For example,the adviser can specify the scheduled hours of the day during which theadviser is expected to take calls; the adviser may select a button(e.g., push through placing a cursor over the button on a display of agraphical user interface and activating a selecting device, such as akey or a button of a cursor positioning device such as a mouse or atouch pad or a joystick, etc.) on a web page, or make a phone call tothe system, to indicate whether the adviser is currently busy and notanswering new calls and/or to further specify the estimated duration ofthe busy period. The adviser may select a button on a user interface(e.g., a web page designed for the manage of the listing and/or accountof the adviser) to indicate that the adviser is now free and ready totake calls. The adviser may pick up the phone call from the system andindicate to the system the current status of the adviser. The advisermay transmit the current status information to the system using instantmessages, email, SMS messages, etc.

If the current status (203) of the adviser is “Taking Calls Now” orsomething equivalent, the system starts (e.g., immediately) a telephoneconnection and tracks the call (205).

If the current status (203) of the adviser is “Taking Calls Shortly”,the system starts (207) to arrange the call to be placed within the timeperiod specified by the caller without trying to call the adviserimmediately, since the adviser is temporary busy and will be availableto take calls within a short period of time.

If the current status (203) of the adviser is “Not Taking Calls for aWhile” or something equivalent, the system starts (209) to make anappointment for the user to call the adviser, since the adviser is notavailable to take the call and will not be available for a longer periodof time.

In FIG. 6, when the system starts to at least initiate a telephoneconnection (e.g., in response to a request from a selected call button),the system displays (301) a landing page to at least initiate atelephone connection and track the call. For example, the web server ofthe system transmits information defining the landing page to the webbrowser of the user to show the landing page (e.g., in a pop-up window).

For example, the landing page may show the name, photo, status, rate ofthe adviser, show/explain the process to make the connection, buttons tonavigate the process, option to mail the adviser, etc.

Optionally, the system alerts (303) the adviser about the request fortelephone conversation (e.g., through a web-based user interface, orthrough email, instant messaging, short text message, etc.)

The system determines whether the user has been authenticated (305). Ifthe user has not been authenticated, the system authenticates (307) theuser. For example, the system signs in the user if the user is already amember, or registers the user as a new member if the user is not yet amember.

The system then determines (309) a source of payment for the call.

After the system has identified a source of payment for the call basedon the price for the call specified by the adviser in the listing, thesystem may further determine if the adviser is still having the statusof “Taking Calls Now”. In certain instances, the process ofauthenticating the user and securing the source of payment may take anextended period of time such that the availability status of the advisermay have changed.

If the adviser is no longer available for immediate connection, thesystem proceeds (317) according to the current status of the adviser,based on whether the current status is “Taking Calls Shortly” or “NotTaking Calls for a While”.

If the adviser is still available for immediate connection, the systemdisplays (313) a call setup page. The call setup page may show theprogress of call and user interface elements to receive the time windowand the phone number of the user (caller).

Once the time window within which the user (caller) is available for thecall and the call back phone number of the user is received, the systemcalls (315) the adviser.

In FIG. 7, after the system starts (401) to call the adviser, the systemupdates (403) the call setup page. For example, the system may play ananimation and/or sound clip and/or a text message to indicate that thesystem is calling the adviser, in one embodiment.

Then, the system determines whether or not the adviser answered the call(405).

If the adviser failed to answer the call, the system sends (407) a mailto the adviser about the unanswered call. The system notifies (409) theuser that the adviser did not answer the call and a mail has been sentto the adviser. The system then presents (411) the user with the optionof making an appointment with the adviser.

If the adviser answered the call, the system obtains the adviser'schoice (413) on the call.

The adviser may indicate that the adviser will take the call in the timewindow specified by the caller, in which case, the system notifies (415)the user that the adviser will take the call in the time window. Then,the system waits (417) for a period of time to call the adviser again.Alternatively, the system may try the connection based on an indicationfrom the adviser that the adviser is ready to take the call (e.g., bycalling the system, selecting a button or a link on a web page in theaccount of the adviser, sending an email/instant message/short textmessage to the system or replying to a message from the system about thecall, etc.)

The adviser may indicate that the adviser cannot take the call in thetime window specified by the caller, in which case, the system notifies(421) the user (caller) that the adviser is not able to take the calland presents (423) the user with the options of updating the time windowand making an appointment.

The adviser may indicate that the adviser wants to take the call now, inwhich case, the system notifies (421) the user that the adviser isconnected and the server is now calling the user (at which point of theprocess, the caller may or may not one the phone). The system thendetermines if the user is already on the line (433).

If the user is not already on the line, the system starts (435) to callthe user and determines whether the user answered the call (437).

If the user did not answer the call back, the system terminates (443)the call (443) and the adviser is notified.

After the user answers the call back, the user is on one line and theadviser on another line. The system then prompts (439) the user toaccept the charge of the call before connection to the adviser anddetermines whether the user accepts the charge (441).

If the user accepts the charge, the system connects (449) the user tothe adviser (e.g., by joining the calls) and starts to monitor aspectsof the call (e.g., duration) and charge the user.

If the user rejects the charge or fails to provide a response within apredetermined period of time, the system terminates (443) call. Afterthe termination of the call, the system updates (445) the user interfaceto show the reason for the termination. Optionally, the system mails(447) the user about the termination of the call.

In FIG. 8, the system displays (501) a landing page, if the adviser'sstatus is “Not Taking Calls for a While”. The landing page may show thename, photo, status, rate of the adviser, and show the process to reachthe adviser, buttons to navigate the process, explanation ofavailability, etc.

Optionally, the system alerts (503) the adviser about the request fortelephone conversation.

In one embodiment, the system receives (505) from the landing page theuser selection whether to mail (e.g., email or use other types ofmessaging systems) the adviser or to make an appointment with theadviser.

If the user selection (507) is to mail the adviser, the systemdetermines if the user has been authenticated (509). If the user has notbeen authenticate, the system authenticates (515) the user. For example,if there is no cookie in the web browser of the user indicating that theuser is currently in a valid session, the user may be presented with aninterface to sign in or to register.

If the authenticated user chooses to mail the adviser, the systempresents (511) a page to receive the subject and message of the mailfrom the user. After receiving the subject and message of the mail, thesystem sends (513) the mail to the adviser (without showing the mailingaddress of the adviser to the user and without showing the mailingaddress of the user to the adviser) in accordance with one embodiment.

In one embodiment, the mail is delivered electronically (e.g., throughan email, instant message, SMS message, web mail). Alternatively, themail may be delivered as voice mail, print out, etc.

If the user selection (507) is to make an appointment, the system starts(517) to make an appointment.

In FIG. 9, the system displays (601) a landing page for making anappointment. The landing page may display one or more of the name,photo, status, rate of the adviser, and show stages of operations tomake the appointment, buttons to navigate through the stages ofoperations, show the option to mail the adviser, etc.

The system displays (603) entries to receive a requested appointmenttime. The entries can be part of the landing page or a page displayedafter a navigation button is selected. In one embodiment, the entriesare used to receive one or more of the date, start time, time length ofthe appointment, the time zone of the user, etc.

In one embodiment, the system further displays existing schedules andthe phone number of the user, etc. for the convenience of the user(e.g., if the user is already authenticated at this point of theprocess).

After the requested time of the appointment is received from the user,the system determines if the adviser is available at the requested time(605). If the adviser is not available at the requested time, the systemprompts (607) the user to adjust the appointment time; otherwise, thesystem proceeds to the task of filtering the callers.

If the system determines that the user has not been authenticated (609),the system authenticates (611) the user through signing in the user orregistering the user. The system then determines (613) if a sufficientsource of payment for the call is available from the user.

If there is a sufficient source of payment for the call, the systemaccepts the appointment and displays (615) a page to confirm theappointment. The confirmation page may show confirmation text includingthe appointment time and the name of the adviser.

In one embodiment, after the appointment is made, the systemautomatically starts to make connections to the caller and the calleeseparately at the requested time of the appointment. Alternatively, thesystem may reserve a time slot on the schedule of the callee on behalfof the caller and request the caller to make a request for a connectionat the scheduled time. Alternatively, the system may request the adviser(callee) to make the request for the connection. For example, the systemmay determine a less reliable one of the two to make a request for theconnection, or contacting the less reliable one first, during theappointment time is reached before starting to contact the other party.

In FIG. 10, the system displays (601) a landing page for arranging acall. The landing page may display one or more of the name, photo,status, rate of the adviser, show stages of operations to make theappointment, buttons to navigate through the stages, show the option tomail the adviser.

The system receives (703) a user selection of whether to accept acallback, to make an appointment, or both.

If the user selection includes making an appointment, operation 707 oroperation 709 is performed to set up an appointment (e.g., according tothe process illustrated in FIG. 9).

If the user selection includes accepting a callback, the system receives(711) user input to identify the user and the call back phone number ofthe user and determines whether the user has been authenticated (713).If the user has not yet been authenticated, the system authenticates(715) the user (e.g., through signing in the user or registering theuser).

After the user is authenticated, the system determines (717) if asufficient source of payment for the call is available (e.g., to filterout non-serious callers). The system then displays a page to confirm thearrangement (e.g., confirmation text including the time window and thename of the adviser).

FIG. 11 shows an example to authenticate the user. In FIG. 11, after thesystem starts (801) to authenticate the user, the system determines(803) if there is information to indicate that the user is a member. Theinformation may be in a cookie in the browser of the user, or aparameter encoded in an URL (universal resource locator) of a link, or aparameter in an applet running in the web browser.

If the user is a member (805), the system displays (811) a sign-in pagewhich may include entries to receive a username and a password from theuser. In one embodiment, the sign-in page may optionally further includethe photo of the adviser, text alerting the user about the connection tothe adviser, the rate to talk to the adviser, etc. Thus, the sign-inappears to be in the environment of the adviser. The system thenauthenticates (813) the user using the username and password received inthe sign-in page.

If the user is not a member (805), the system displays (807) aregistration page. The registration page may include information alreadycollected about the user (e.g., during the interaction before theregistration) for confirmation purpose. The registration page includesentries to receive username and password of the user. In one embodiment,the registration page may optionally further include the photo of theadviser, text alerting the user about the connection to the adviser, therate to talk to the adviser, etc. Thus, the registration appears to bein the environment of the adviser. The system then creates (809) anaccount for the user using the information received from theregistration page.

In one embodiment, after the user is authenticated, information iscreated to indicate that the user is authenticated for a valid session(e.g., using a cookie, a parameter in URL or in an applet) until thesession expires or the user signs off.

FIG. 12 shows an example to determine if a sufficient source of paymentof the call is available.

After the system starts (821) to determine if a sufficient source ofpayment for the call is available, the system determines (823) whetherthe call is charged by per interval (e.g., per minute). If the call ischarged by per interval, the system determines (825) the minimum chargefor the call (e.g., for one minute). If the call is not charged by perinterval, the system determines (827) the price for a call package(e.g., $100 for 1 hour, as specified by the adviser).

The system then determines whether there is enough money in the accountof the user (829) and/or whether there is an active credit card of theuser is on file (839 and 831).

If the account of the user has enough money for the call and/or anactive credit card of the user is not on file, the system optionallyrequests (841) for the credit card information and the associatedbilling address for security reason.

If the account of the user does not have enough money for the call, thesystem will pre-authorize (837) an amount according the requirement ofthe call for deposit purpose. If an active credit card of the user is onfile, the system optionally presents (833) an option to update thecredit card information. If no active credit card of the user is onfile, the system requests (835) credit card information and billingaddress for pre-authorization.

In one embodiment, when information identifying the user is available(e.g., through a “cookie” implemented in the web browser or parametersencoded in the URL, or parameters stored in the variables of an appletrunning in the web browser, etc.), the system uses the information aboutthe user to help the user. For example, from the member informationdatabase, the system may retrieve the phone numbers of the user. Ifthere are multiple phone numbers for the user, a combo box is displayedfor the user to select one from the known phone numbers of the user (orto type in a different one). If there is only one known phone number ofthe user, the system may display the known phone number of the user inan entry box as the default value.

If a user as identified by the information (e.g., cookie) is differentfrom the current user, the current user can choose to edit theinformation and/or sign in as a different user.

In one embodiment, a user can enter the input information to set up acall, such as the call window and/or the callback phone number beforethe user is authenticated. When the user is subsequently authenticated(e.g., through signing in as an existing member or registering as a newmember), the information provided by the user before the authenticationprocess is used to update the account information (if changed).

FIG. 13 illustrates a method to display a call button according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

In one embodiment, the appearance of a call button is displayedaccording to the current availability status of the adviser to take thecall.

For example, in FIG. 13, when the system receives (851) a request todisplay a call button of an adviser, the system determines (853) thecurrent status of the adviser (at the time of the request). After thesystem determines (855) an appearance of the call button of the adviserto indicate the status of the adviser, the system presents (857) thecall button of the adviser with the appearance to indicate the status ofthe adviser.

In one embodiment, the system further determines (859) (e.g.,periodically) the current status of the adviser to update (861) theappearance of the button according the currently status of the adviser.

For example, the call button to be inserted in the blog of the calleecan include an image at a URL on a server computer. When being requestedthe URL causes the server computer to determine a response based on theparameters encoded in the URL. For example, the URL can be pointing to aCGI (Common Gateway Interface) program which provides or generates theimage according to the current status of the adviser. The URL mayinclude a parameter to identify the adviser and/or the advertisement.

For example, when the current status of the adviser is “Taking CallsNow”, the call button may show a telephone with text “Call Now”; whenthe current status of the adviser is “Taking Calls Shortly”, the callbutton may show an off-hook telephone with text “Arrange a Call”; whenthe current status of the adviser is “Not Taking Calls for a While”, thecall button may show a telephone and a calendar with text “Appointment”.

In one embodiment, different types of availability status of a callee(adviser) includes: on call, off call, busy, get in line, schedule anappointment, join conference, etc. It is understood that differentsystems may implement more or less types of availability status of acallee. Further, the call button may include other current statusinformation about the callee, such as price, how many people are in lineto call the callee, the schedule of the callee, and/or others.

In one embodiment, the call button is implemented using an appletrunning in the browser of the user. The applet displays the call buttonaccording to the current status of the adviser and checks the status ofthe adviser periodically to update the appearance of the button. In oneembodiment, when an estimated time until which the adviser can take thecall is available (e.g., received in the system from the adviser whenthe system attempts to contact the adviser, or provided by the adviserwhen the adviser is talking to a different user, etc.), the call buttonalso shows an indication of such an estimated time to help the user inselecting a time window.

Alternatively, the call button may be implemented in custom applications(e.g., as plug-in to web browsers, email clients, etc., or asstand-along applications). The call button may communicate with theserver using a special purpose protocol.

In one embodiment, a web/email (document) authoring tool is designed toautomatically detect the phone number of the callee in a webpage/email/document. The authoring tool can be set up to replace thephone number of the callee with the corresponding call button assignedto the callee and/or the phone number (e.g., ether phone number) that isassigned to the callee. For example, the authoring tool can detect theoccurrence of the phone number of the callee in the document and promptthe user of the authoring tool to replace the phone number of the calleewith the call button and/or the phone number assigned by the system. Ifthe user accepts the suggestion, the authoring tool automaticallyreplace the phone number of the callee with the call button and/or thephone number assigned by the system.

FIG. 14 illustrates a method to monitor and control a connectionaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 14, after the system connects (871) a user to an adviser, thesystem determines (875) whether the current call is within a time windowof a previously purchased call package (e.g., a year or 4 hours).

In one embodiment, a call is considered a continuation of the previouslypurchased call package if the current call is within the time window.Thus, if the call of a previously purchased call package is interrupted,the user can continue the call within the time window without having topurchase another package.

Based on whether or not the current call is the continuation of aprevious call (877), the system determines (879) the time limitaccording to the previously purchased call package, or determines (881)the purchased minutes of the call package for the current call. Thesystem then monitors (883) the call until the time limit for the currentcall is reached. When the time limit for the call is reached, the systemalerts (885) the user and the adviser about the end of the time limit.

In one embodiment, the continuation policy specified by the adviser isretrieved (887) to process the call at the end of the time limit.

If the continuation policy (889) is “purchase a further package”, thesystem prompts (891) the user to purchase the next package to remainconnected. For example, the user may be offered to continue the call atthe price of $50 for another 30 minutes.

If the continuation policy (889) is “continue at a per minute price”,the system prompts (895) the user to accept the continuation at the perminute price.

If the continuation policy (889) is “no longer charge”, the systemmaintain (897) the connection for the user and the adviser until atleast one of the user and the adviser hangs up.

If the continuation policy (889) is “end call”, the system disconnects(893) the user and the adviser after altering the user and the adviser.

In one embodiment, the system stores a replication of the policy of thepackage the user purchased with the records of the purchased call (e.g.,the policy at the time the call button is selected for the call package,or at the time the user is first connected to the adviser for the callpackage, or at the time the user explicitly confirms the purchase of thecall package, etc.). Thus, the adviser is free to change the listing forthe future callers even before the users finish the purchased callpackages without retroactively affecting the purchased calls.

Some of the above examples are in the context of telephonicconversations. From this description, it will be understood that thetechniques for connecting people for real time communications can alsobe applied to other types of communications, such as video and othermultimedia channels, chat, instant messaging, document sharing, orscreen-sharing, common “whiteboarding,” interactive TV or internet TV,etc. Each of different multimedia channels can have different prices orbe inclusive in one price (e.g., the use of part or all of the differentchannels can be included in the same price).

The real time communication may be on a one-to-one basis (e.g., onecaller connected to one callee). The real time communication can also bein the form of one-to-many. For example, the seller may be hosting aconference in which multiple callers may attend. For example, 100 peoplecan be in the same call or the same video session provided by the sameseller.

Further, in one embodiment, the real time communication may includeaccess to recorded sessions (e.g., recorded audio content and/orrecorded video content).

Thus, the system on the whole may be used as a filter for sellers(callees), only letting in calls from people who are serious—they'reserious because they have entered their credit card and are willing topay. Celebrities can use the system. For example, people want to talk tothe Oakland A's from the 70's, who are sitting on their porches thesedays. For example, Hollywood executives can use the system to hearpitches from scriptwriters who are willing to pay $1000 for the chanceto pitch their script.

In one embodiment, these call buttons and the Ether phone numbers go towhere the action is happening. In at least one embodiment of the presentinvention, it is recognized that not all service commerce will happenthrough marketplaces, such as keen dot com or a search engine. Peoplewho want to talk to the Oakland A's players are more likely the visitorof the Oakland Athletics web site and that's where the call buttons canbe very effective. And the Ether phone numbers can be in magazines,underneath photographs, in newspapers, on business cards, etc.

In one embodiment, the current status of the callee (e.g., availability,schedule, etc.) and guidance and instructions for the phone connectionare provided through the appearance of the call button and the contentof the call graphic. Alternatively or in combination, the statusinformation, guidance and instructions can also be presented based usingan interactive voice response (IVR) system.

For example, a talk radio station may have a guest on every day at anoon talk show. After the one-hour show, the radio announcer may say,“The time is up on our show. We've enjoyed talking with Dr. Webber andanswering your calls. If you'd like to talk further with Dr. Webber, goto our website at WKBR dot com and set up a conversation with him. Or,just dial the number 1-800-TALK-KBR and get in line. It's just $29 per10-minute conversation.”

In this example scenario, the phone number 1-800-TALK-KBR is assigned toDr. Webber, which can be used to achieve many of the same goals as thecall button assigned to Dr. Webber. While the button can visuallycommunicate to the user the current (e.g., real-time) availability ofthe callee, the price, how many people are in line already, the scheduleof the callee, etc., telephony prompts on a interactive voice response(IVR) system can also be used to provide such information after thecaller dials the phone number that is assigned to the callee.

For example, in one embodiment, after a caller dials the phone number1-800-TALK-KBR, the call is connected to a server, which determines thatthe call is for Dr. Webber since the phone number 1-800-TALK-KBR isassigned to (associated with) Dr. Webber. The server can then determinethe current status of Dr. Webber, including the availability status, theprice for the package, etc., and provide the information to the callerthrough the IVR system. In one embodiment, the server prompts optionsaccording to the current availability status of Dr. Webber. For example,the server may offer an immediate connection when Dr. Webber isavailable for immediate talk, or an opportunity to input a callback timewindow and/or callback phone number when Dr. Webber is expected to beavailable in a short period of time, or an opportunity to schedule anappointment with Dr. Webber when Dr. Webber is not expected to beavailable in a short period of time, etc. The server may use the IVRsystem to inform the caller the current status of the connection processand to provide instructions to the caller to take actions, such asproviding a callback time window, providing an appointment time,providing an indication to accept the price of the call package, etc.

In one embodiment, the status information, instruction and guidance areprovided using a combination of graphical presentations (e.g., over agraphical user interface terminal) and voice prompts (e.g., through anIVR system).

In one embodiment, the callee (seller) charges the caller(s) for thereal time communication. The system provides the service to arrange andconnect the call. The system can collect the payment from the caller(s),deduct a portion of the payment as fees to provide the service, anddeliver the remaining payment to the callee (seller).

Alternatively, the callers may be not required to pay for the call; andthe callee (e.g., advertisers) may pay the system for the service. Inthis case, the system may not provide the filtering functionality basedon the willingness of the callers to pay. However, the callees (e.g.,the advertisers) can still enjoy other benefits from the serviceprovided by the system, such as call scheduling (no night calls), callqueuing, toll-free number, local phone number, click-to-call, etc.

In one embodiment, the call buttons and the phone numbers assigned tothe callees can also be published in advertisements in marketplaces,online or offline, on behalf of the callees; the callees bid for changesof the publicity and pay the bid amount on a per call basis for callsgenerated by the advertisements. When the callees generate the phonelead from their own media channel, the callees are only charged for aflat fee for the service of making the connection. Thus, in oneembodiment, the system tracks the media channels that lead the caller tomake the call.

FIG. 15 shows a diagram of a system to assist and track connectionsaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 15, a database (921) may contain the phone numbers of targetphone A (931), target phone B (933), . . . , target phone X (939), etc.,of callees. Typically, the target phones belong to the institutions,businesses, individuals, etc, which seek for the services of embodimentsof the present invention.

The call button and/or phone numbers assigned to the callees aredistributed in various media channels, such as media channel A (901)(e.g., web server), media channel B (902) (e.g., WAP server), mediachannel C (903) (e.g., short messaging service center), media channel D(904) (e.g., custom server), media channel E (907) (e.g., cabletelevision), media channel E (908) (e.g., news press), media channel G(909) (e.g., radio station), etc.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the call buttons and/or theassigned phone numbers, which can be considered as the encoded phonenumbers of the callees, are presented in the environment specific to thecallees, not in the marketplaces that are specially designed toadvertise the callees. Thus, the callees generate the phone leads ontheir own media distributions, such as their web site or blog site.

Alternatively, or in combination, the call buttons and/or the assignedphone numbers can also be presented in marketplaces, such as inlistings/directories of services, advertisements in search results, etc.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the phone numbers of thetarget phones are not directly publicized over the media channels.Instead, encoded target phone numbers (923) are used. Using the encodedtarget phone numbers (923), a user cannot reach target phones directly.Using the encoded target phone numbers (923), a user reaches a server ofthe system first, which allows the system to provide various servicesbefore actually connecting the user to the callee, such as filtering,payment processing, etc.

The encoded target phone numbers (923) allow the association ofadditional information with the target phone numbers, such as the mediachannels used, special promotions, etc.

The encoded target phone numbers and/or the call buttons are deliveredwith content information (e.g., web page, WAP page, short message,television programs, news articles, advertisement, blog, etc.) to userdevices, such as user device A (911) (e.g., cellular phone), user deviceB (912) (e.g., personal digital assistant (PDA)), user device C (913)(e.g., computer), user device D (916) (e.g., receiver), user device E(918) (e.g., newspaper).

In one embodiment, a user device can include a USB phone, a Bluetoothwireless phone, or one or more speakers or headphones with one ormicrophones for the implementation of a software based phone.

In one embodiment, the user devices/phones support one or more real timecommunication capabilities, such as VoIP using Session InitiationProtocol (SIP) which may support video and instant-messagingapplications, IP phone, regular phone over VoIP service, Bluetoothwireless phone, USB phone, software based phone, and other forms of IPtelephony.

In one embodiment, the user device can include a television set toreceive the advertisement. Further, the television set may have thecapability to accept user input so that the television content may bechanged according to the user input (e.g., interactive television, webtelevision, internet television, etc.), or be coupled with a set top boxwhich has such capability. The user input may be provided to the contentprovider through the same communication channel in which the televisioncontent/programs are delivered (e.g., a cable system of a cabletelevision system), or a separate channel (e.g., a phone line, anInternet connection, etc.). The user input may include a request to makea connection to an advertiser featured in an advertisement presented ina television program, such as a request for a telephonic connection tothe advertiser.

In one embodiment, the user devices are mobile devices, such as PDA,cellular phone, etc. The user devices obtain content information,including advertisements, through wireless communication connections,such as cellular communication links, wireless access points forwireless local area network, etc.

In one embodiment, a user device (e.g., a cellular phone, a computer, aPDA) can receive content information from multiple types of mediachannels (e.g., a web server, a WAP server, an SMSC, etc.).

In one embodiment, a user device is capable of dialing a phone call(e.g., automatically according to the encoded phone number embedded inthe content information when a user selects the number). Alternatively,a user may manually dial a phone call using a separate phone, such asuser phone S (917) or user phone T (919).

In one embodiment, a user device (e.g., 911, 912, 193) is capable ofrendering the call button and sending a message to the communicationserver(s) (929) when the call button is activated. The call buttonincludes an identifier of the callee so that when the call button isactivated the user devices communicates the identifier of the callee tothe server(s) (929).

In one embodiment, the user device (e.g., 911) is further capable ofautomatically identifying a phone number of the caller, or a VoIPidentifier of the caller, as a callback number. Alternatively, the userdevice (e.g., 911, 912, 913) is capable of communicating with theserver(s) (929) to present user interfaces to receive the callbacknumber and other parameters, such as the callback time window.

In one embodiment of the present invention, dialing at least a portionof an encoded target phone number connects the phone call to a phonedecoder and router (925) first. According to the encoded target phonenumber dialed, the phone decoder and router (925) determines thecorresponding target phone number using the database (921) and connectsthe phone call to the corresponding target phone (e.g., one of targetphones 931-939) through the telephone network (927).

Note the telephone network (927) may be circuit switched, packageswitched, or partially circuit switched and partially package switched.For example, the telephone network may partially use the Internet tocarry the phone call (e.g., through VoIP). For example, the connectionbetween the user phone/device and the phone decoder and router (925) maybe carried using VoIP; and the connection between the phone decoder androuter (925) may be carried using a land-line based, circuit switchedtelephone network.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the information associatedwith the encoded target phone number, such as the media channel used toprovide the encoded target phone number to the users, is alsodecoded/retrieved using the database (921). Thus, the informationassociated with the encoded target phone number can be tracked/stored.

In one embodiment, the phone decoder and router (925) also determinesthe phone number of the user through Automatic Number Identification(ANI). ANI is a phone system feature that provides the billing number ofthe person making the phone call.

The information about the caller, target phone number, the media channelused for delivering the contact information to the user can be used tobill the caller and/or the target phone number, and providecredit/compensation for the corresponding media channel.

For example, the connection to target phone numbers can be paid for on apay per call basis. Monitoring and tracking the calls can be used forbilling the callee and/or the caller.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the additional informationassociated with the encoded target phone number is used to trackingphone calls for conditional promotions, electronic coupons, etc.Alternatively, the additional information for conditional promotions,electronic coupons, etc. are retrieved from the database of the listingsat the time the corresponding call button is activated or presented, orat the time the encoded phone number is called.

The information about the media channels that are responsible forleading the users to the phone calls to the target phones can also beuseful for the advisers. The advisers may wish to know which mediachannel is more effective in reaching users.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an encoded target phonenumber has the same number of digits as a standard phone number (e.g., atypical telephone number assigned by a telephone company). Thus, dialingthe encoded target phone number is as easy as dialing the target phonenumber; and dialing the target phone number reaches the phone decoderand router (925). In such an arrangement, a large number of encodedphone numbers are generally required to differentiate the differenttarget phones and different media channels.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an encoded target phonenumber has more digits than a standard phone number (e.g., having anextension to the standard phone number). A first portion of the encodedtarget phone number has the same number of digits as a standard phonenumber to reach the phone decoder and router (925) through the telephonenetwork (927); and a second portion of the encoded target phone number(e.g., the extension) is to be decoded by the phone decoder and router(925). For example, the Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) decoder can beinstalled in the phone decoder and router (925) to detect the secondportion of the encoded target phone number dialed at the user phone. Thedetected phone number can then be used to recover the target phonenumber.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a single telephone number isused to reach the phone decoder and router (925) for different targetphone numbers; and the portion of the encoded target phone number thatis used to reach the phone decoder and router (925) is not used indetermining the information associated with the encoded target phonenumber.

Alternatively, multiple telephone numbers can be used to reach the phonedecoder and router (925); and the entire encoded target phone number canbe used to determine the information associated with the encoded targetphone number.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the encoded target phonenumbers can have different numbers of digits. The callees may bearranged to bid for shorter encoded target phone numbers.

In one embodiment, a look-up table approach is used to encode theinformation. For example, the database (921) keeps track of theinformation about the media channel and the target phone number (andother information, if any) for the encoded target phone number so thatthe encoded target phone number can be used as a key to retrieve thecorresponding information. Thus, it is not necessary to have apredetermined structure to encode the information about the mediachannels and the target phone number.

Alternatively, algorithms can be used to generate and encode targetphone number and associated information. For example, a predeterminedalgorithm may be used to encode different information in the targetphone number. For example, the target phone number may include a numberof field separated by“*” or“#”. Each of the field can be decodedseparately (e.g., from a separate look up table or a mapping algorithm)to determine the target phone number, identity of the media channel,etc.

For example, a set of parameters can be mapped from a string ofcharacters to a string of numerical digits as a part of the encodedtarget phone number; and the string of numbers can be mapped back intothe string of characters at the phone decoder and router (925). Whensuch a mapping scheme is used, a look up table is not necessary. Forexample, an encoded target phone number may include a first portion thatis the phone number of the phone decoder and router (925), a secondportion that is the target phone number appended with other parameters.To prevent revealing the target phone number and the parameters, anencryption/scrambling scheme can be used to encode the second portion,which is decoded at the phone decoder and router (925).

In one embodiment, the phone decoder and router (925) determines thetarget phone number from the encoded target phone number dialed by theuser and then dials the target phone number for the user and joins thephone calls so that the user can talk to the target phone.

In one embodiment, the communication server(s) (929) determines thetarget phone number from the message sent from the user devices when thecall button is pressed.

In one embodiment of the present invention, users dial the encodedtarget phone numbers manually. A user can dial the encoded target phonenumber regardless the user device used and the media channel used.

Alternatively, in one embodiment, user devices can automatically dialthe encoded target phone numbers. For example, a cellular phone, acomputer or a PDA can dial a phone number using a Dual ToneMulti-Frequency (DTMF) generator. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, the encoded target phone numbers are presented in the contentinformation in a format such that when the user selects the phone numberthe user device (e.g., a cellular phone or a computer) dials the encodedtarget phone number for the user. The user selection may be in the formof an keyboard/keypad input, a touch pad input, a track ball input, amouse input, a voice command, etc.

In one embodiment, the user device initiates the phone call through aVoIP system when the user selects the encoded target phone number.Alternatively, the system initiates the VoIP connection to the userdevice after receiving the message from the user device requesting thephone connection.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the user device dials thephone number for the user without the user manually press the sequenceof the encoded target phone numbers. This greatly simplifies the processof make the phone call. Since a user device can dial a long sequence ofnumber easily, a large number of digits can be used to encode theinformation without presenting any difficulties for the users.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the encoded target phonenumbers are formatted so that the user device dials a first portion ofthe encoded target phone numbers to access the phone decoder and router(925), pauses for a short period of time for the phone decoder androuter (925) to prepare for receiving the second portion of the encodedtarget phone numbers, and then dials the second portion of the encodedtarget phone numbers. Thus, the user device provides a user-friendly wayof dialing the encoded target phone numbers; and, making the phone callcan be as easy as making a “click” to access a web page.

In FIG. 15, the user device initiates the phone call. Alternatively, aphone router may be used to initiate phone calls both to the user device(or a separate user phone) and the target phone and then join the phonecalls to connect the user to the target phone. For example, when theuser selects the call button, the encoded target phone number istransmitted to the communication server(s) (929), which can instruct thephone decoder and router (925) to initiate the phone calls.

The user phone number can be automatically determined through ANI, orthrough a user preference setting, or through an entry submitted withthe selection of the encoded target phone number (e.g., the callbutton).

In one embodiment, the selection of the encoded target phone number istransmitted to the corresponding media channel, which forwards therequest for making the phone call to a server (e.g., a web server)connected to the phone router. Alternatively, the content informationcan be formatted so that the selection is sent directly to the serverthat is connected to the phone router.

When the router starts the phone calls, the encoded target phone numbercan also include alphabetic characters (and/or other characters). Theserver and/or the phone router can decode the encoded target phonenumber to recover/retrieve the target phone number and other associatedinformation, such as the identity of the media channel that iscreditable for providing the encoded target phone number to user.

In one embodiment, the user devices/phones support one or more real timecommunication capabilities, such as VoIP using Session InitiationProtocol (SIP) which may support video and instant-messagingapplications, IP phone, regular phone over VoIP service, Bluetoothwireless phone, USB phone, software based phone, and other forms of IPtelephony.

Provide Communication Connections

One embodiment of the present invention enables a partner to offercommunication references for entities (e.g., in online marketplace,voice portal, advertisement placement, etc.) such that real-timecommunication connections to the entities can be established when thecommunication references are used to request for the communicationconnections.

For example, a marketer may operate a web site to promote sellers (e.g.,advisors, advertisers), an online marketplace, and/or a voice portal.The marketer has the contact information of the sellers, such as phonenumbers. The marketer may not have the facilities to track the phonecalls to the phone numbers of the sellers. As a partner of a connectionprovider, the marketer may provide the contact information of thesellers to the connection provider and obtain links and/or custom 800numbers that can be used by the customers of the marketer to at leastinitiate the real-time communication connections to the sellers. Forexample, when a customer of the marketer selects the link, or dials the800 number, that is assigned for a seller of the marketer, theconnection provider makes an arrangement to connect the customer to thecorresponding seller using the contact information of the seller. Thus,the marketer does not have to maintain separate facilities to track thephone calls and make the phone connections; and the connection providercan provide the service to different marketers.

Further, in one embodiment, responsive to the establishment of theconnection between the customer and the seller, the connection providermay further charge the customer a fee on behalf of the seller forpurchasing from the seller (e.g., purchasing a period of real-timecommunication with the seller and/or products/services offered over thecommunication connection) and/or charge the seller on behalf of themarketer a fee for the advertisement presented by the marketer. Theconnection provider may further distribute the charged fee to themarketer and/or to the seller directly or indirectly via the marketer.Thus, the marketer may delegate a payment processing task associatedwith tracking and providing communication connections to the connectionprovider. Alternatively, the marketer may perform the payment processingtasks based on the information about the communication connectionstracked and provided by the connection provider.

In one embodiment, a connection provider may enable a marketer to focuson the aspect of matching customers and sellers and delegate to theconnection provider the tasks of providing communication connections,tracking the communication connections, collecting fees, and/ordistributing payments.

In one embodiment, a marketer may use the services of a connectionprovider to operate an online marketplace and voice portal. The servicesof the connection provider may be behind the scene and/or customized forthe marketer such that the customers of the marketer may not be aware ofthat part of the services is from the connection provider which may bean entity different from the marketer.

FIG. 16 illustrates a system to provide communication connectionsaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 16,sellers (1009) provide (1015) their contact information to the mediadatabase (1005). The media database (1005) may also include otherinformation that is used by the media channel (1007) to present thesellers (1009) to the medial channel users (1011).

In FIG. 16, the contact information of the sellers is not provided tothe media channel users (1011). Instead, a communication reference canbe assigned to the contact information of a seller and provided (1013)to the media channel user (1011) via the media channel (1007). The mediadatabase (1005) and the connection database (1003) exchange (1017)communication reference and contact information of the sellers. Theconnection server (1001) is used to connect the sellers and the mediachannel users (1011). Using the communication reference, a media channeluser may request for a connection with the corresponding seller. Theconnection server (1001) determines the contact information based on thecommunication reference used to make the request.

For example, using the contact information looked up according to thecommunication reference, the connection server (1001) makes a connectionwith the seller and then connects the media channel user and the seller(e.g., through forwarding communications across the connection server).

In one embodiment, the media channel (1007) and the media database(1005) may be operated by a marketer; and the connection database andthe connection server (1001) may be operated by a connection provider.The marketer and the connection provider may communicate with each otherelectronically to exchange (1017) the communication reference andcontact information.

The communication reference may be a representation of a user interfaceelement, such as a link, an icon, a button (e.g., in HTML or a script),which can be rendered in a browser and selected to send the request tothe connection server. The communication reference may include anidentifier to represent a seller or a record of the contact informationof the seller. For example, the identifier may be a seller identifierthat can be used to look up the seller and then determine a phone numberof the seller from information about the seller. For example, theidentifier may be a record identifier that points to a record in theconnection database (1003); and the record includes a phone number ofthe seller. For example, the communication reference may be an Etherbutton assigned to the seller.

The communication reference may be a phone number of the connectionserver (1001). The phone number may or may not include an extension thatis to be dialed after the connection server (1001) picks up the callfrom the medial channel user. The phone number can be used as a selleridentifier or a record identifier to look up the phone number of thecorresponding seller. The phone number may be a toll free number (e.g.,an 800 number) or a phone number local to a geographic area (e.g., anarea in which the media channel users are located).

In one embodiment, the media database (1005) can provide the contactinformation of the seller (e.g., the phone number of the seller) to theconnection database (1003) and update the contact information of theseller according to the input for the seller. Thus, a copy of thecontact information of the seller is stored/cached in the connectiondatabase (1003). The connection provider may alternatively request thecontact information corresponding to a communication reference from themedia database in real time and/or cache the information (e.g., for asession, for a predetermined period of time).

In one embodiment, the connection database (1003) can provide the mediadatabase the communication reference for a specific seller (or aspecific contact information entry of the seller). The media database(1005) may request the communication reference at a setup time for theseller so that the entry of the seller is properly set up and the mediachannel may use the entry to present the seller (e.g., in response to asearch request, in response to a request to show the listing of aspecific category, in response to a placement of an advertisement in aweb page, etc.) The media database (1005) may alternatively request thecommunication reference on demand (e.g., when the media channel receivesa request for a display of the seller).

In one embodiment, a connection server may provide connection servicesfor multiple marketers who operate different media channels (e.g., webpages, newspapers, magazines, television broadcasting systems, billboards, etc.). A communication reference may further include anidentifier that can be used to identify the corresponding marketer.Thus, the connection server may use the identifier to contact themarketer for information about the seller (e.g., availability status,contact information) and/or provide credit/compensation to the marketer.

In one embodiment, a button representation of the communicationreference may show the current status of the seller to engage in realtime communication with the media channel user. At the time the buttonis rendered in the web browser, the web browser further downloadsinformation about the current status of the seller to determine theappearance of the button. Thus, before the button is selected by theuser, the user may see an indication of availability of the seller toaccept the call. Since the status information is downloaded at the timeof the rendering of the button, the current status of the seller isdisplayed. Further, the button may be configured to periodically checkfor updated status information.

The media channel and the media database may obtain the current statusinformation about the seller at the time the representation of thebutton is downloaded. The status information at the time of downloadingthe web page may be hardwired within the representation of the button.

Alternatively, the marketer may redirect the communication related tothe status of the seller to the connection providers such that thecurrent status information is maintained in the connection database(1003).

The connection provider may further provide the status information afterthe communication reference is used to request for a communicationconnection to the seller. For example, a call graphic may be presentedto guide the media channel user through the connection operations; andthe call graphic may include the current status information about theseller. For example, when the media channel user uses the phone numberof the connection server to request the connection, the connectionserver may use an IVR system to tell the media channel user about thecurrent status of the seller.

In one embodiment, the connection database (1005) obtains the statusinformation from the sellers (1009). For example, when the sellers(1009) visit a web page of the marketer, the web page redirects thesellers (1009) to a server of the connection provider, which allows thesellers to specify the scheduled times for receiving communicationsand/or current changes to the availability statuses. The redirected webpage may be displayed in a popup window so that the sellers do not haveto leave the context of the web page provided by the marketer. Forexample, when a seller clicks on a link or icon to specify a change tothe current availability status on an account management page providedby the marketer, the browser of the seller may bring up a popup windowand direct the request to the web site of the marketer, which sends aredirect message to redirect the request to a web site of the connectionprovider, which then provides a web page for display in the popup windowto collect the information related to availability, including workhours, etc. Thus, the status information is collected by the web site ofthe connection provider in the context of a web page of the marketer.The connection database may obtain the status information throughcommunication with the media database (1005).

The price information may be specified in a web site of the connectionprovider or a web site of the marketer. For example, the marketer mayredirect the task of managing price bidding to the connection provider.The connection provider may show the price information of competitors ofthe seller and receive a price bid from the seller. The price bid isstored in the connection database and/or provided to the marketerthrough a communication channel between the connection provider and themarketer.

Alternatively, for example, the marketer may manage the price biddingand stored the price information in the media database (e.g., forstoring and selecting the sellers for display to the medial channelusers). The price information may be forwarded to the connectiondatabase (1003). The connection server may use the price information toask the user to confirm the purchase of a period of time of real timecommunication with a seller who provides information, entertainment,advice over the communication connection (e.g., before the user isconnected to the seller), or charge the user and/or the seller accordingto the price information (e.g., for the purchase of advice, or for theadvertisement for the seller).

For example, the marketer may redirect the management of call packagesto the connection provider, or provide custom web pages to manage thecall packages and communicate the call package information to theconnection database (1003).

The connection server may manage an aspect of payment process for themarketer. For example, the connection server may collect fees from themedia channel users based on the call packages purchased by the users(e.g., charging a credit account, a bank account or an online paymentaccount) and/or distribute compensations to the sellers for the callpackages sold to the users. The connection server may further manageaccounts of the sellers and the users for the purposes of conductingfinancial transactions on behalf of the marketer. Thus, the marketer maybe freed from the burden of managing some of the financial transactions.

Alternatively, for example, the marketer may process the financialtransactions with the users and sellers, after the connection serverreports the information about the communication connections to themarketer, such as the date and time of the connection and the duration,etc. The connection server can use the communication references toidentify the sellers in collecting the information related to thecommunication connections.

The connection server may communicate with the marketer to authenticatethe media channel user. For example, the connection server may verifywith the marketer that the media channel user is a registered user ofthe marketer so that the user may be charged accordingly.

In one embodiment, the connection server may collect the credit cardaccount information (or bank account information, or other types ofaccounts) and forward the account information to the marketer so thatthe marketer may charge the user. Alternatively, the connection servermay charge the user on behalf of the marketer.

In some types of services, the media channel users (1011) may or may notbe charged for the communication. For example, the sellers may use themedia channel to present advertisements to the media channel users; thesellers may be charged for the advertisement (e.g., in response to theconnection); and the media channel users are not charged. Further, forexample, the sellers may reward the channel users (1011) for having aphone connection with them to listen to their advertisement information.In another embodiment, for example, the sellers may charge the mediachannel users for a period of communication over the connection toreceive information, entertainment, advice, etc. Thus, it may or may notnecessary to identify the media channel users and determine theiraccount information. The communication reference may include anindication of the type of information to be collected by the connectionserver.

From the above discussion, one understands that the marketer maydelegate more or less of the tasks related to the establishment of theconnection and payment processing to the connection provider.

FIGS. 17-18 illustrate a media database and a connection database whichcan be used in a system to provide communication connections accordingto one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 17, a media database (1030) may include a field “Seller ID”(1031) to represent a seller. For the seller, the media database (1030)may include a field to store the phone number (1033) of the seller. Thephone number of the seller is typically associated with a telephone setof the seller through a telephone carrier. The phone number of theseller is typically not presented to the media channel users. Instead,an Ether phone number (1045) is presented for the seller to the mediachannel users. The Ether phone number (1045) may be associated with atelephone equipment of the connection provider through a telephonecarrier. When the Ether phone number (1045) is dialed, the telephonecarrier connects the call to the telephone equipment of the connectionprovider, which can determine the phone number (1033) of the sellerbased on the dialed Ether phone number (1045) and further connect(forward) the call to the seller.

In one embodiment, the media database (1030) obtains the Ether phonenumber (1045) and Ether web reference (1047) (e.g., a link or arepresentation of a button) from the connection provider for the seller.

The media database may further include the listing content (1035),listing category (1037), service area (1039), etc. about the seller.These information can be used by the marketer to generate a listing forpresentation on behalf of the seller.

The media database may optionally include the price/rate (1041) forcommunications with seller, and/or for advertisement presented on behalfof the seller. The marketer may use the price/rate (1041) to selectivelypresent sellers and to determine placement priorities for the sellers.

The media database may optionally include the service schedule (1043),such as the work hours during the day and the week. Using the serviceschedule (1043), the time period in which the seller is not available toreceive a phone call may be determined. The media database maycommunicate the service schedule (1043) to the connection provider suchthat the availability status information can be determined at leastpartially from the service schedule (1043); and calls may be scheduledat least partially according to the service schedule (1043).

Optionally, some of the data fields may be maintained in a connectiondatabase of a connection provider. When needed, the data can be fetchedfrom the connection database of the connection provider through acommunication channel between the connection provider and the marketer.

In FIG. 18, the connection database (1050) may include a callee ID(1051) to represent a callee (e.g., seller). The phone number (1053) ofthe callee may be stored in the connection database (1050) inassociation the Ether phone number (1059) and the Ether web reference(1061) so that when a request for a connection is received via the Etherphone number (1059), or the Ether web reference (1061), the phone numberof the callee can be determined and used to complete the connection.Alternatively, the phone number (1053) may be retrieved from themarketer (e.g., from the media database) when the request for connectionis received via the Ether phone number (1059) or the Ether web reference(1061).

The connection database (1050) may further include the service schedule(1055), such as the work hours during the day and the week, and theavailability status (1057) which may be changed in real time based onthe information received from the callee. For example, the callee mayuse a communication channel (e.g., a web page) to specify the currentavailability status. Further, when the connection server establishes aseparate phone connection with the callee, the callee may indicate theavailability status to the IVR system of the connection provider.

The connection database (1050) may further include the price package(1063) which may be specified by the callee (1051). The connectionprovider may use the price package information to make charges on behalfof the marketer (or the callee).

The callee ID may also be associated with a partner ID (1065) which mayrepresent the marketer. Thus, the connection provider may report thedata related to connections to the corresponding marketer and/orcompensate the corresponding marketer.

The connection database (1050) may include entries to record theconnection activities. For example, a call ID (1071) may be used torepresent a phone call. Callee ID (1073) indicates the seller that isbeing called in the phone call. Call time (1075) indicates the date andtime of the call. Call duration (1077) indicate the time period of thephone connection between the seller and the caller. Callback number(1079) shows the callback number of the caller. Optionally, an entry fora connection may further include other information, such as the identityof the caller, credit card number of the caller, a callback time windowspecified by the caller, etc.

FIGS. 19-20 show flow diagrams of methods to provide communicationconnections according to embodiments of the present invention.

In FIG. 19, contact information about an entity is received (1101) froma partner; and a communication reference usable to at least initiate arequest for a communication connection is provided (1103) to thepartner. In response to that a request initiated via the communicationreference presented by the partner is received (1105) for acommunication connection, the communication connection to the entity isprovided (1107) using the contact information.

In FIG. 20, a connection provider receives (1121) a phone number of aseller from a partner and provides (1123) the partner with a link and aphone number of a connection system which can be used to request a phoneconnection to the seller. The partner presents (1125) the link and thephone number of the connection system to customers. Once a customerselects the link, or dials the phone number of the connection system, torequest a phone connection to the seller (1127), the connection providerreceives (1129) the request from the customer for a phone connection tothe seller and arranges (1131) a phone connection between the seller andthe customer using the phone number of the seller.

The connection provider may charge (1133) a fee responsive to the phoneconnection between the seller and the customer and pay (1135) a portionof the fee to the partner. The customer may be charged for purchasing aperiod of phone communication with the seller; and within a period oftime a customer may be reconnected to the seller with a further feebefore the purchased period of phone communication elapses or expires.Alternatively, the seller may be charged for an advertisement presentedby the partner on a per call basis, excluding repeated calls from thesame customer made within a period of time. The phone connection may bepartially carried via a VoIP system.

FIG. 21 shows a block diagram example of a data processing system whichmay be used with the present invention.

While FIG. 21 illustrates various components of a computer system, it isnot intended to represent any particular architecture or manner ofinterconnecting the components. Other systems that have fewer or morecomponents may also be used with the present invention.

In FIG. 21, the communication device (951) is a form of a dataprocessing system. The system (951) includes an inter-connect (952)(e.g., bus and system core logic), which interconnects amicroprocessor(s) (953) and memory (958). The microprocessor (953) iscoupled to cache memory (954) in the example of FIG. 21.

The inter-connect (952) interconnects the microprocessor(s) (953) andthe memory (958) together and also interconnects them to a displaycontroller and display device (957) and to peripheral devices such asinput/output (I/O) devices (955) through an input/output controller(s)(956). Typical I/O devices include mice, keyboards, modems, networkinterfaces, printers, scanners, video cameras and other devices whichare well known in the art.

The inter-connect (952) may include one or more buses connected to oneanother through various bridges, controllers and/or adapters. In oneembodiment the I/O controller (956) includes a USB (Universal SerialBus) adapter for controlling USB peripherals, and/or an IEEE-1394 busadapter for controlling IEEE-1394 peripherals.

The memory (958) may include ROM (Read Only Memory), and volatile RAM(Random Access Memory) and non-volatile memory, such as hard drive,flash memory, etc.

Volatile RAM is typically implemented as dynamic RAM (DRAM) whichrequires power continually in order to refresh or maintain the data inthe memory. Non-volatile memory is typically a magnetic hard drive, amagnetic optical drive, or an optical drive (e.g., a DVD RAM), or othertype of memory system which maintains data even after power is removedfrom the system. The non-volatile memory may also be a random accessmemory.

The non-volatile memory can be a local device coupled directly to therest of the components in the data processing system. A non-volatilememory that is remote from the system, such as a network storage devicecoupled to the data processing system through a network interface suchas a modem or Ethernet interface, can also be used.

In one embodiment, a server data processing system as illustrated inFIG. 21 is used as one of the communication server(s) (e.g., 929, 925,and/or 921 in FIG. 15, 1019 or 1007 in FIG. 16).

Further, a user terminal as a client system can be a data processingsystem similar to the system of FIG. 21. A client system can be in theform of a PDA, a cellular phone, a notebook computer or a personaldesktop computer. For example, the I/O devices of the user device mayinclude a USB phone, a Bluetooth wireless phone, or one or more speakersor headphones with one or microphones for the implementation of asoftware based phone.

Alternatively, the traditional communication client(s) may be used insome embodiments of the present invention.

From this description, it will be appreciated that certain aspects ofthe invention are embodied in the user devices, certain aspects of theinvention are embodied in the server systems, and certain aspects of theinvention are embodied in a system as a whole.

Embodiments of the present invention can be implemented using hardware,programs of instruction, or combinations of hardware and programs ofinstructions.

In one embodiment, a connection provider uses a connection serverconfigured on a packet switched network to provide telephone connectionsbetween callers (e.g., customers) and callees (e.g., advertisers), asillustrated in FIG. 22. In FIG. 22, the connection server (2207)receives and/or places telephone calls via the telecommunication carrier(2205) over the packet switched network (2209). The telecommunicationcarrier (2205) further routes the telephone communications towards thecaller (2201) and the callee (2203).

Since the telecommunication carrier (2205) can route a call from apacket switched network to a variety of destinations (e.g., atraditional analog telephone set, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, aWiFi phone, a Bluetooth phone, a softphone running on a computer, etc.),the connection sever (2207) can use one type of communication connectionwith the telephone carrier (2205) to facilitate the communicationconnections with variety of devices used by the customers (e.g., callersand callees). Thus, the implementation of the connection server (2207)can be simplified. In one embodiment, the connection server (3307) canalso place and/or receive direct VoIP calls to/from the caller (orcallee).

For example, to make a voice connection in response to a click-to-callrequest, the connection server can place separate VoIP calls, via thetelecommunication carrier (2205), to the caller (2201) (e.g., therequester of the click-to-call) and the callee (2203) (e.g., thedestination of the click-to-call request).

If the caller (2201) (or the callee 2203) is on a public switchedtelephone network (PSTN), the telecommunication carrier (2205) bridgesthe packet switched the network and the public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN). The telecommunication carrier (2205) routes the callfrom the packet switched network (2209) to the caller (2201) (or thecallee 2203) on the circuit switched network. Thus, the caller (2201)(or the callee 2203) can use a telephone set to receive the call via aPlain Old Telephone Service (POTS). The connection server (2207) joinsthe separate calls that are placed via the packet switched network(2209) to connect the callee (2203) and the caller (2201).

In one embodiment, call signaling and media content may use differentnetwork paths. While call signaling is arranged to go through the packetswitched network (2209) and the connection server (2207), the mediastream does not have to go through the connection server (2207). Forexample, when the calls are joined, the media content may be redirectedto flow over the communication carrier (2205) without going through thepacket switched network (2209) to the connection server (2207) forimproved performance and efficiency. The connection server (2207) canrelease the control over the media stream to allow the media stream toflow through the shortest path, without going through the connectionserver, while maintaining control to the connection for the call bystaying on the path for call signaling.

In another example, when the caller (2201) initiates a call over a PSTNto the connection server (2207), the telecommunication carrier (2205)converts the call for the packet switched network (2209) for theconnection server (2207).

In one embodiment, virtual softphones on the telecommunication carrier(2205) are assigned to the caller (2201) and the callee (2203) forinterfacing with the connection server (2207) over the packet switchednetwork (2209). The virtual softphone encapsulates the devices andnetworks used by the caller (2201) and callee (2203) to access theconnection server (2207); and the telecommunication carrier (2205)shields the connection server (2207) from the implementation details ofthe user devices and networks used by the caller (2201) and the callee(2203). The connection server (2207) calls (or receives calls from) andconnects the virtual softphones on the telecommunication carrier (2205)to connect the caller (2201) and the callee (2203).

In FIG. 22, the telephone connection between the telecommunicationcarrier (2205) and the connection server (2207) is facilitated via apacket switched network (2209). Thus, the connection server (2207) canoperate efficiently in a digital domain. The connection server (2207)interfaces with the telecommunication carrier (2205) using one type ofInternet Telephony systems (e.g., SIP-based Internet telephony).

Alternatively, a connection server may include some or all of thefunctionality of the telecommunication carrier (2205). For example, theconnection server may be configured to bridge a packet switched networkand a circuit switched network. The connection server may supportmultiple, different types of Internet Telephony systems.

In one embodiment, the connection server (2207) and thetelecommunication carrier (2205) are operated by different, separateentities. Alternatively, the connection server (2207) and thetelecommunication carrier (2205) may be operated by the same entity. Inanother embodiment, the telecommunication carrier (2205) includes a setof facilities operated by a number of separate entities.

In one embodiment, the caller (2201) and/or the callee (2203) may alsoplace/receive calls via a packet switched network. The telecommunicationcarrier (2205) may route the calls between the caller (2201) and thecallee (2203) without using a PSTN. In one embodiment, caller (2201)and/or the callee (2203) may place calls to or receive calls from theconnection server (2207) via Internet.

FIG. 23 shows a connection server according to one embodiment. In FIG.23, the connection server (2206) is configured to place and/or receiveVoIP calls using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). A session bordercontroller (2301) is used to interface with the packet switched network(2303) and control the types of network traffic related to VoIP callsthat might go into the connection server (2305).

In one embodiment, the session border controller (2206) is configured tocontrol the signaling and media stream during the setting up, conductingand tearing down of VoIP calls to or from the connection server (2305).In some embodiments, the session border controller (2206) may pick upthe call that comes to the session border controller (2206), places aseparate call from the session border controller (2206), and joins thereceived call and the placed call to control both the signaling andmedia stream. In some embodiments, the session border controller (2206)may perform signaling/encoding translation to allow the connectionserver (2305) to process the VoIP calls in one standard, while receivingVoIP calls in a variety of standards (e.g., SIP, H.323, etc.). In oneembodiment, the session border controller (2206) is configured toperform one or more firewall functionalities, such as denial of serviceprotection, call filtering, bandwidth management, etc.

In one embodiment, the session border controller (2206) is configured toperform media releasing operation. When the session border controller(2206) determines that the source and destination of a media stream ison the same side of the session border controller (2206) (e.g., both thesource and the destination of the media stream is outside the connectionserver 2305), the session border controller (2206) can release thehairpining of the media stream and allow the media stream to flowwithout going through the session border controller (2206).

In FIG. 23, a set of SIP servers (e.g., 2311, 2313, . . . , 2319) arenetworked to the session border controller (2301) to receive messagesfor incoming calls and to initiate outgoing calls. The session bordercontroller (2301) is configured to evenly distribute the calls forprocessing by the SIP servers.

For example, when an incoming message for the initiation of a call isreceived (e.g., a SIP INVITE message from the telecommunication carrier2205), the session border controller (2301) may route it to a SIP server(e.g., 2311) for processing. The INVITE message includes the phonenumber dialed by the caller and the contact information about the caller(e.g., the phone number of the caller 2201 and/or the identity of thevirtual SIP phone at the telecommunication carrier 2205).

The SIP server may determine whether the phone number dialed by thecaller (2203) is sufficient to determine the phone number of the callee(e.g., 2203). If the phone number of the callee (e.g., 2203) can bedetermined from the phone number dialed by the caller (2203) (e.g., viadecoding the phone number dialed by the callee, or looking up the phonenumber of the callee from a table using the phone number dialed by thecaller as a key), the SIP server can place a separate SIP call to thecallee via the packet switched network (2303) and then connect thecaller and the callee. Alternatively, the SIP server can further routethe SIP INVITE message (e.g., to the telecommunication carrier (2205) todirect the call to the callee. For example, the SIP server may modifythe INVITE message by replacing the destination with the determinedphone number of the callee. Further, the SIP server can modify theINVITE message by removing the phone number of the caller (or replacingthe phone number of the caller with a phone number of the connectionserver). In one embodiment, the modified INVITE message identifies thevirtual softphone corresponding to the caller on the telecommunicationcarrier as the SIP phone initiated the call; thus, the virtual softphonecorresponding to the callee on the telecommunication carrier canestablish media connection with the virtual softphone corresponding tothe caller on the telecommunication carrier directly. Alternatively, themodified INVITE message may identify a media server (2321) (or a virtualsoftphone on SIP server) as the initiator for a separate call. The SIPserver then connects the calls for the media stream.

In one embodiment, the caller is first connected to a media server(e.g., 2321, 2323, or 2329). For example, the SIP server may forward theSIP INVITE message to one or more of the media servers for answering thecall. When a media server (e.g., 2321) answers the call, a prompt isplayed to the caller by the media server. The media server may includean Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, or be connected to an IVRsystem, to obtain input from the caller.

For example, the media server may prompt the caller to enter theextension assigned to the callee, such that the phone number of thecallee can be determined based on the phone number including theextension dialed by the caller. In some embodiments, the extensiondialed by the caller is sufficient to determine the phone number of thecallee. After the phone number of the callee is determined, the SIPserver can further connect the call to the callee.

For example, the media server can send a message to the SIP server. Themessage identifies the call and the extension obtained from the caller.The SIP server then determines the callee's phone number based at leaston the extension received from the media server and initiates a SIP callvia the packet switched network (2303) (e.g., by sending a SIP INVITEmessage to the telecommunication carrier 2205, which further bridges thecall to the callee 2203). Then, the SIP server disconnects the mediaserver from the call and reconnects the call to the callee.

For example, the SIP server can send a SIP BYE message to the mediaserver to disconnect the media server from the call (e.g., by sending a“BYE” message to the media server for the call) and send a re-INVITEmessage towards the caller to connect the caller and the callee.Alternatively, the media server may send a SIP BYE message to the SIPserver for the call; the BYE message may include the extension obtainedfrom the caller; in response to the BYE message that contains theextension, the SIP server determines the phone number of the callee andfurther connects the caller to the callee.

In one embodiment, the SIP server can direct the caller and the calleeto connect to each other for the media stream without having the mediastream going through the session border controller (2301) into theconnection server (2305). For example, the media stream can go throughthe telecommunication carrier (2205) in FIG. 22 without going to theconnection server (2207) after the SIP server connects the caller andthe callee.

However, the SIP server stays on the signaling path to monitor theprogress and termination of the call. The SIP server can also break theconnection between the caller and the callee, or force the media streamto come through the connection serve (2305). For example, the SIP servermay selectively conference a media server into the call to monitorand/or record the communication of the call between the caller and thecallee. For example, the SIP server may reconnect the caller and thecallee to separate media servers for interaction with an IVR system or ahuman operator to confirm a deal or transaction.

Similarly, the SIP server may initiate a callback to a caller via a SIPcall over the packet switched network (2303) for a connection to thecaller. The SIP call may be bridged onto a circuit switched network(e.g., by a telecommunication carrier 2205). The SIP server can thenreconnect the call to a media server for sending a prompt to the callerbefore reconnecting the call to the callee. Alternatively, the callbackcan be initiated from a media server; and the call signaling (e.g., theINVITE message from the media server) goes through the SIP server forcall control. Alternatively, the SIP server sends out the INVITE messageon behalf of the media server.

In one embodiment, the SIP servers (2311, 2313, . . . , 2319) and mediaservers (2321, 2323, . . . , 2329) are implemented on separate computersconnected via a local area network (and/or intranet or Internet).Alternatively, at least the some of the servers can be implemented on asame computer. In one embodiment, the SIP servers and the media serversare also integrated with the session border controller (2301) on a samedata process system having multiple processors coupled with a data bus.In one embodiment, the SIP servers are coupled to the media servers viaa network; and a SIP server may use any of the available media serverfor interaction with the caller (or callee). Alternatively, a SIP servermay be configured to use one or more of media servers that are notshared by other SIP server. For example, a SIP server may be implementedon a same data processing system with one or more media servers whichare reserved for the SIP server.

In one embodiment, the connection server (2305) may further include adatabase server (2305) to storing records related to the calls, datamapping between the communication references assigned to the callees andthe actual phone numbers of the callees, etc. In one embodiment, contactmapping are cached in the local memory (e.g., RAM) of the servers forimproved performance; and the cached mapping is updated when thedatabase is updated.

In general, routines executed to implement the embodiments of theinvention may be implemented as part of an operating system or aspecific application, component, program, object, module or sequence ofinstructions referred to as “computer programs.” The computer programstypically comprise one or more instructions set at various times invarious memory and storage devices in a computer, and that, when readand executed by one or more processors in a computer, cause the computerto perform operations necessary to execute elements involving thevarious aspects of the invention.

While some embodiments of the invention have been described in thecontext of fully functioning computers and computer systems, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that various embodiments of theinvention are capable of being distributed as a program product in avariety of forms and are capable of being applied regardless of theparticular type of machine or computer-readable media used to actuallyeffect the distribution.

Examples of computer-readable media include but are not limited torecordable and non-recordable type media such as volatile andnon-volatile memory devices, read only memory (ROM), random accessmemory (RAM), flash memory devices, floppy and other removable disks,magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media (e.g., Compact DiskRead-Only Memory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile Disks, (DVDs), etc.),among others. The instructions may be embodied in digital and analogcommunication links for electrical, optical, acoustical or other formsof propagated signals, such as carrier waves, infrared signals, digitalsignals, etc.

A machine readable medium can be used to store software and data whichwhen executed by a data processing system causes the system to performvarious methods of the present invention. The executable software anddata may be stored in various places including for example ROM, volatileRAM, non-volatile memory and/or cache. Portions of this software and/ordata may be stored in any one of these storage devices.

In general, a machine readable medium includes any mechanism thatprovides (i.e., stores and/or transmits) information in a formaccessible by a machine (e.g., a computer, network device, personaldigital assistant, manufacturing tool, any device with a set of one ormore processors, etc.).

Aspects of the present invention may be embodied, at least in part, insoftware. That is, the techniques may be carried out in a computersystem or other data processing system in response to its processor,such as a microprocessor, executing sequences of instructions containedin a memory, such as ROM, volatile RAM, non-volatile memory, cache or aremote storage device.

In various embodiments, hardwired circuitry may be used in combinationwith software instructions to implement the present invention. Thus, thetechniques are not limited to any specific combination of hardwarecircuitry and software nor to any particular source for the instructionsexecuted by the data processing system.

In this description, various functions and operations are described asbeing performed by or caused by software code to simplify description.However, those skilled in the art will recognize what is meant by suchexpressions is that the functions result from execution of the code by aprocessor, such as a microprocessor.

Although some of the drawings illustrate a number of operations in aparticular order, operations which are not order dependent may bereordered and other operations may be combined or broken out. While somereordering or other groupings are specifically mentioned, others will beapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and so do not present anexhaustive list of alternatives. Moreover, it should be recognized thatthe stages could be implemented in hardware, firmware, software or anycombination thereof.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evidentthat various modifications may be made thereto without departing fromthe broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in thefollowing claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to beregarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, over anetwork, from a partner, entity contact information relating to anentity, the entity contact information comprising an entitycommunication reference; providing, over the network, to the partner, aconnection provider communication reference different than the entitycommunication reference, the connection provider communication referencebeing associated with the partner and the entity; receiving, over thenetwork, from a requester, a request for a communication connection, therequest being initiated by the requester using the connection providercommunication reference, wherein receiving the request includesreceiving, via a computing device, the request at a web server throughredirection from the partner; providing, over the network, a real-timecommunication connection between the requester and the entity, thecommunication connection being initiated using the entity communicationreference; charging, via the computing device, the requester a requesterfee responsive to the real-time communication being established; paying,via the computing device, the entity an entity service fee, the entityservice fee comprising a first portion of the requester fee; and paying,via the computing device, the partner a partner service fee, the partnerservice fee comprising a second portion of the requester fee.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein providing the real-time communicationconnection between the requester and the entity comprises: establishing,via the computing device, a first voice over Internet protocol call witha telecommunication carrier that bridges the first voice over Internetprotocol call to a public switched telephone network connection to therequester; establishing, via the computing device, a second voice overInternet protocol call with a telecommunication carrier that bridges thesecond voice over Internet protocol call to a public switched telephonenetwork connection to the entity; and connecting, via the computingdevice, the first voice over Internet protocol call and the second voiceover Internet protocol call.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein: a firstvirtual softphone of the telecommunication carrier terminates the firstvoice over Internet protocol call; a second virtual softphone of thetelecommunication carrier terminates the second voice over Internetprotocol call; and connecting the first voice over Internet protocolcall and second voice over Internet protocol call comprises directing,via the computing device, the first softphone and the second softphoneto establish a direct media connection.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the requester fee is based on a price specified by the entity.5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing, over thenetwork, the partner with information about the real-time communicationconnection.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the information about thereal-time communication connection comprises a time duration of thereal-time communication connection between the requester and the entity.7. The method of claim 1, wherein the real-time communication connectioncomprises a telephonic connection; and the method further comprises:determining, via the computing device, a time duration of the telephonicconnection between the requester and the entity such that the requesterfee is based on a price specified by the entity and the time durationfor a service provided by the entity over the telephonic connection. 8.The method of claim 7, wherein the entity service fee is based on theprice specified by the entity and the time duration.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: charging, via the computing device, theentity a connection service fee according to a price specified by theentity.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the real-time communicationconnection comprises a telephonic connection; and charging the entitythe connection service fee comprises: charging, via the computingdevice, the entity the connection service fee independent of a timeduration of the telephonic connection between the requester and theentity.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication referenceis rendered in a browser and presents a user interface element which,when selected, causes the browser to send the request to the partner,for redirection to the web server.
 12. The method of claim 1, whereinthe connection provider communication reference is embedded in adocument, and wherein the request for the communication connection isinitiated in response to selection of the connection providercommunication reference.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein theconnection provider communication reference comprises a telephonenumber, dialed to generate the request.
 14. The method of claim 13,wherein providing the real-time communication connection comprises:establishing, via the computing device, a telephonic connection to theentity using the entity communication reference in response to receivingthe request at the telephone number.
 15. The method of claim 14, whereinestablishing comprises: establishing, via the computing device, thetelephonic connection to the entity at least in part through a voiceover Internet protocol call.
 16. A non-transitory machine readable mediastoring instructions that, when executed by a computing device, causesthe computing device to: receive, over a network, from a partner, entitycontact information relating to an entity, the entity contactinformation comprising an entity communication reference; provide, overthe network, to the partner, a connection provider communicationreference different than the entity communication reference, theconnection provider communication reference being associated with thepartner and the entity; receive, over the network, from a requester, arequest for a communication connection, the request being initiated bythe requester using the connection provider communication reference,wherein receiving the request includes receiving, via the computingdevice, the request at a web server through redirection from thepartner; provide, over the network, a real-time communication connectionbetween the requester and the entity, the communication connection beinginitiated using the entity communication reference; charge the requestera requester fee responsive to the real-time communication beingestablished; pay the entity an entity service fee, the entity servicefee comprising a first portion of the requester fee; and pay the partnera partner service fee, the partner service fee comprising a secondportion of the requester fee.
 17. A system, comprising: a processor; andmemory coupled to the processor and storing instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor, cause the system to: receive, over a network,from a partner, entity contact information relating to an entity, theentity contact information comprising an entity communication reference;provide, over the network, to the partner, a connection providercommunication reference different than the entity communicationreference, the connection provider communication reference beingassociated with the partner and the entity; receive, over the network,from a requester, a request for a communication connection, the requestbeing initiated by the requester using the connection providercommunication reference, wherein receiving the request includesreceiving the request at a web server through redirection from thepartner; provide, over the network, a real-time communication connectionbetween the requester and the entity, the communication connection beinginitiated using the entity communication reference; charge the requestera requester fee responsive to the real-time communication beingestablished; pay the entity an entity service fee, the entity servicefee comprising a first portion of the requester fee; and pay the partnera partner service fee, the partner service fee comprising a secondportion of the requester fee.